Law of the Jungle
by Hyena Cub
Summary: The hunter becomes the hunted...Safari Joe confronts some ghosts from the past.
1. Chapter 1

Law of the Jungle

This is a story about Safari Joe and a couple of captives; a young Thunderian man and a Mutant child, who end up in a safari display...

1 

"HA! Safari Joe does it again!" In the stifling heat of the jungle world, the feared hunter of the galaxy had made yet another capture. The tall, muscular human swiped a hand over his bald head and leered down at the creature. He was deciding whether he wanted to keep this one alive, skin it for its fur and cut the head off for a trophy, or just stuff the whole thing. 

"Ahh! You'll regret this, you...sick maniac!" the creature growled as he struggled in midair from where he hung in the suspend-net. 

Safari Joe laughed. "I don't think that you have any room to be talking about regret, cat," said the hunter. "You'd best be watching your tone of voice if you want to keep your hide." The grim, cruel glint in his otherwise smiling eyes told the trapped Thunderian that he meant that quite literally. 

"You-you wouldn't." 

The hunter's only reply was to laugh boisterously and drop the net on the ground. Before the feline had a chance to recover, Safari Joe knelt on his gut and searched him for weapons. Finding only a dagger, he grinned and placed it in his own belt. 

"Hey! That belonged to my father, and his father before him!" 

"And now it belongs to me, how convenient." Safari Joe clicked a couple of buttons on the keypad on the small control at his belt, uncloaking his ship and unsealing the door at the same time. Using the same keypad, he maneuvered the net to rise once more and float into the ship. 

The Thunderian mixed breed struggled wildly to free himself from the net, but it had sealed itself, and the strands were unbreakable. Safari Joe decided to show this one his trophy room before dumping him in a cage. There were a couple of his species whose pelts hung on the wall of his ship until the hunter could return to his resort estate and hang them in his trophy room. 

The feline's eyes widened in horror. He was a relatively young man, in his early twenties or thereabouts, and had seen little atrocity. He was shocked by what he saw. He tried to stammer something, but words quite failed him. 

"Cat got your tongue?" the hunter asked in his thick accent, and laughed uproariously at the joke. The feline only looked at him with a horrified expression on his pale face as his captor's laugh trailed off. "Better watch yourself, cat." The hunter's eyes were once again unkind and mirthless. 

The feline said nothing. When he was dumped in a cage, he only looked around as the lid was shut and padlocked, then leaned against the barred wall and watched his captor with wary eyes. 

"That's better." Safari Joe sat at the controls of his ship and lifted off. This one was young and handsome; he would keep him alive. People liked to see the young ones. If his trainers got him tame enough he could be in the petting allowed section of his safari planet's display, the largest and best in the galaxy! And it was out of the jurisdiction of any law enforcement agency. Since he controlled the whole small planet, he made the laws, and there was nothing that CONTROL, or anybody else could do about it. 

As the ship sped off for another untamed planet, the Thunderian looked at his three cellmates, as it were. In the large hold with its clear plastic divider, were a feral tiger, who yowled angrily once in a while, a strange looking thing that looked like a combination of a fish and a snake, but it was over twelve feet long; and a Mutant. A cub. A hyena cub. He lay in his cage curled up, naked as the day he was born. Sentients, this hunter preyed on sentients. He realized one more thing; there was Thundranium in the bars. It was only a small amount, but enough to keep him manageable. 

Sickened, the young Thunderian closed his eyes and tried to sleep. For days, he had wandered the jungle planet his suspension pod had landed on, hoping each day that he would be picked up by someone as the pod's emergency supplies were depleted. Now he wished he had never been found. 

Usiko, exiting his capsule   
Usiko 

Part 2 

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	2. Chapter 2

2 

The feline was there for almost a week while Safari Joe captured his other specimens: all feral, one nursing young pups, some kind of small canine. The other two were different species of feline, one of which had a set of wings on it, its "fur" more like a combination of hair and feathers. The feline had never seen the likes. It wasn't happy, either, it kept making a strange keening sound. 

Usiko, which was the feline's name, had tried to make friends with the little Plundaarian cub, but the child had been not been responsive; he seemed almost fearful. Of course he was, the feline thought, Plundaarian parents probably told their children the same thing about Thunderians that Thunderians told about Mutants, though the Thunderians were usually more accurate. He could see the cub was scared enough as it was, but the hunter kept telling him he was going to skin him, and that ticked Usiko off, but the cub did not seem to heed the hunter's words any more than he had Usiko's. Usiko, who had spent much of his caged time watching the child finally realized why. The boy was deaf. That would explain his bedraggled appearance and his wary attitude, the Mutants were not very accepting people. 

"Well guys," Safari Joe boomed from his seat up front. The thick plastic partition was open, and Usiko could hear the hunter's annoying voice very well. "Almost there. Just a few more hours." 

The feline was almost glad; except for a few hours every other day where he was allowed to run around in an empty room for some exercise, he was stuck in the cage, where he could only walk a few steps. And even then it taxed him because of the Thundranium. But he only glared at the hunter sullenly. He had a large bruise on his cheek from where the hunter had socked him with surprising strength and speed the one and only time he'd tried to take over the ship. 

Safari Joe laughed and walked over to the cage. "We're about to arrive at your new home. Take off your clothes, cat." 

"Say what? I am not taking off my clothes, you sick puke!" 

Joe only laughed and took his rifle from the wall. "I said take them off." He considered, then turned to aim the rifle at the sleeping cub in the next cage. "You've taken a liking to this little rat. I could just as easily kill him for his pelt. Mutants are worthless. Now take them off." 

He wouldn't! Usiko looked at the young cub, then sighed. Grumbling the nastier epithets from his home world, he stripped off his trousers, his boots, and his tunic. 

"The shorts, too." 

"What!? What, are you some kind of perverted--" He cut off when he heard the threatening click of the rifle and he closed his eyes. A little worried about why the human wanted him nude, he stripped off his shorts and threw them outside the cage with the rest, covering himself with his legs. 

"That's better." Safari Joe looked him over for a moment, disappeared, then brought back a pair of spandex shorts and tossed them to the cat. "Here, wear these." As the cat gladly put them on, he continued. "The people don't come to see clothing, they come to see animals." Humans too, sometimes, he thought. 

Usiko's face was red; the shorts clearly showed off every muscle and shape on his body. Glaring daggers at the hunter, he sighed and sat down. He was tired. He glanced to the Mutant child and realized he would probably be kept naked, as he was a little one. Probably eight or nine. But old enough to be embarrassed about nudity. 

As the ship approached the final destination, Safari Joe looked back with a grin. "Coming up on it now, you miserable blighters." He grinned dangerously. "Your retirement home." He laughed and turned back around to pilot the ship in. 

Part 1 

Part 3 

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	3. Chapter 3

3 

Once on the resort planet, Safari Joe got a few of his employees to come out and help him with his catches, the non sentient ones anyway. He wanted to deal with those considered his prize catches himself. He had no other Thunderians, the pelts he had were of those he found half-dead on uncharted planets, starving to death because their capsules had landed on an uninhabited planet, or because they had been injured with no way of calling for help, and they were not worth saving. So he'd just killed them and skinned off the pelts. Before that, the ThunderCats had been the first he'd encountered, and he didn't even want to think of that fiasco. He'd long ago trashed Mule, the mechanic assistant that had been rewired by those blasted felines. He didn't have any Snarfs in his exhibits, either. He'd come across a few and now they were hanging in his large trophy room. One he stuffed, the others he skinned. Blasted Snarfs. 

After the three big game handlers had gotten the other five out, Safari Joe turned to his sentient prisoners. "Well, I think it's time we got you settled in." The hunter grinned down at them. Usiko only glared back at him, the child was still sleeping. Safari Joe gave the cub's cage a solid kick, and he woke with a startled outcry, looking around a little blearily. "Dumb Mutant." 

"Hey, you don't have to insult him all the time. He's deaf, you know. He can't hear you." 

Safari Joe shot the feline a dirty look as he retrieved his multipurpose rifle off the wall. "How would you know, cat?" He blinked his eyes as he looked out into the bright sunshine of his safari resort and grinned. This was truly home; a resort his father had started, and Safari Joe had made better. 

"Now who's the dumb one? It's obvious. You'd think the fact that he can't hear anything you say unless he's looking at you would be a clue." Safari Joe growled and fired his rifle at the cat. 

Usiko gasped, expecting to be shot, but to little rocket-propelled things came at him and attached themselves to his ankles. "Hey! What the?" Usiko yelped as the cage was unlocked and the little cuffs soared into the air, yanking him upside down. How embarrassing. His face turned red as he felt the flush beneath his fur. "Oh, that's real cute." He sighed. 

The hunter ignored him. He didn't like being bested mentally by his prey, and it did not usually happen. But after the catch was made, he wasn't always as observant as he maybe should be. When one of his prisoners pointed this out, it angered him...but he wouldn't hurt them any more than he had to. An unhealthy exhibit made for bad customer attraction. Sometimes the urge was great, however. 

Firing the last two cuffs at the Mutant cub, he levitated them out of the ship and onto his home planet. 

Aggravated with the two, he brought them into the processing station and left them there for the peons to take deal with. Then he went to take care of some paperwork that had piled up during his absence. He had a clerk to take care of the most of it,. but when he went on a hunting trip, there was usually enough time for the things he had to handle personally to pile up. 

In the processing station, Usiko was finding that he was not going to like it here one bit. He was once again forced to strip, and shoved into a large, stainless silver basin, and restraints clapped onto his wrists and ankles. Then one of the women proceeded to scrub him down from head to toe, doing it three times. One of the soaps smelled like a flea shampoo! "I do not have fleas!" he protested, yanking against the bonds. 

"Easy, there, handsome fella," the woman said in a soft voice. She smiled at the cat and patted his back. "Easy. We're just making sure." She washed every part of him, too, to his embarrassment, and Usiko resented the way he was being talked to. 

"I can bathe myself, you know!" 

The woman only chuckled. "I know. The feral cats groom themselves too. But it doesn't get you clean enough." She never got mad at the exhibits, she knew they were only acting like their species would act. As Usiko fumed, she rinsed him off, then towel dried him. though Usiko had to admit that felt good physically, it was humiliating. He grumbled some not nice things as she finished. 

"What was that?" 

"Nothing." 

She smiled and ruffled his mane, jerking her hand back with practices ease as he took a swipe at her hand with his claws, then a couple of burly assistants took him by the arms and threw him into a room naked. He was surprised when a giant fan started up somewhere and began to blow soft, warm air into the room. Great, I'm being blow dried! A minute later, the hyena cub was shoved in as well. He retreated to a corner and curled up. 

Usiko decided to try and make friends with the little guy. Kneeling next to him, he tried to speak clearly, as it was apparent the boy had taught himself to read lips. At first the boy didn't respond, but when he did, it was in a nearly normal, if loud, voice. Usiko had asked the cub's name. "Ze'ev...you're not gonna hit me, are you?" 

It was the first time he'd gotten a response from him, and he gave him a bit of a concerned look. "No, of course not." He sat down next to him. Nudity didn't bother him all the time, he was Thunderian after all, but in some cases it did make him uncomfortable. This was all right though, he was just a kid and didn't seem uncomfortable with it himself. "Why would you think that?" 

The boy looked away and shrugged, shying away from the feline. 

"How old are you?" He frowned then remembered and tapped him on the shoulder. He flinched then turned around. "How old are you?" he repeated, trying not to look intimidating. 

"Ten." 

Ten. Only ten. He shot a look of disgust towards the door. 

At that moment, the door opened, and a few assistants entered, ready to drag the two out of the room. A little concerned that they would threaten the boy, Usiko made no move against them yet. When he heard the hunter's boisterous, booming voice down the hall, he rolled his eyes, then glared at him. "Well, well, don't you two look cute." Safari Joe laughed. "You know I think you're furry enough, you can go without clothes." He turned to his employees, one of which was Kamata, who regulated everyone's training routines, and an man who regulated their feeding. Safari Joe kept his exhibits healthy and well fed, but he did demand a level of discipline. "Get them into cages and get them on a feeding schedule. I want them cleaned once a day as normal, put them in adjoining cages in the west wing, where everyone passes. This is a Thunderian." He beamed at the declaration. 

"We're not animals, you can't do this to us, you miserable--" His words were cut off as the goons ushered them off. 

Safari Joe called after them, "You are, though! Beside it wouldn't matter, I've got humans here too." He chuckled. He only had a few; and they were only ones who had crossed him at one point in time. 

As it neared night, Joe yawned, made sure everything was getting taken care of and locked down tight, then retired to his spacious home in the middle of the resort. In his bedroom, before he went to bed, he looked at a small picture on his chest of drawers; a picture of a handsome, tall man with deeply tanned skin, carrot red hair, and bright green eyes. It was the only photo he had around, the others having been gotten rid of long ago. "Like father like son, eh?" Safari Joe sighed and settled into bed for the night. 

Ze'ev, waiting to be bathed   
Ze'ev 

Safari Joe in bed   
Joe 

Part 2 

Part 4 

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	4. Chapter 4

4 

The cage Usiko found himself shoved into in the dark compound was a far cry from that in that miserable hunter's ship; it was large, for one, about the size of a large family room, and it wasn't just a plain cage. There was a raised platform with a covered space beneath it that was obviously supposed to be a sleeping pallet in the middle of the left wall, and behind it, a toilet. He peered inside and found it wasn't a flushing toilet, but the bluish water far, far down into the ground from the bottom of the cage smelled strongly of disinfectant and cleaner. It was very sanitary. He briefly thought it might be a way to escape, as disgusting as it may seem, but just under the water were three iron bars; spaced wide enough for the waste matter to pass through, but not for anything living unless it was a squirrel or a small house cat. 

On the right side of the cage was an array of items apparently for exercise: something that almost looked like a jungle gym complete with a bar to swing on, a few ascending rope ladders towards the top of the cage, where a large artificial log spanned across the top. Towards the back was a long belt along the floor of the cage, and a short examination showed it to be a non-electric treadmill. At the top, above the bed, was what looked like another sleeping pallet, though it was more like a cubbyhole near the roof of the cage with a ladder leading to it. With the exception of the privy, everything was in full sight of anyone passing, including the beds. They were covered on the left side and back but the other two were completely open. The top bed had a railing on the side to prevent falling to the ground below. To the left front there was a small counter-like thing jutting out from the cage bars with a bolted down stool, a table for his meals he guessed. Usiko sighed. 

Beside him, the young Mutant cub had been put in a similar cage, though his "jungle gym" looked more like a playground item with a slide and a small swing, clearly prepared for a child. Everything else was the same. Ze'ev had not looked around his cage at all, only crawled under the sleeping pallet and curled up with a blanket he had found somewhere, crying a little. Usiko wished he could comfort the kid, but he himself could hardly see with his feline eyes; he knew the cub would have difficulty reading his lips. Shaking his head, the Thunderian looked around his own cage, wondering where Ze'ev had found his blanket, and finally discovered a small door on the solid side of the bed; a cubbyhole with a blanket and a pillow. Taking both, he curled up on his own bed, happy to have something to cover himself with. 

Sleepless, Usiko listened to Ze'ev's quiet crying until the cub had exhausted himself and finally fell asleep. Usiko was not so lucky; sleep did not come for him for several hours. 

Early the next morning, Safari Joe opened his eyes at the sound of his alarm, a loud trumpeting like that of an elephant. The hunter grinned; he had a new exhibit for his patrons that day. Plus he had three feral creatures that were simply untrainable, and one that was getting old; these he would let loose in the sealed off jungle quadrants for some of the hunters to go after, for a fee of course. They hunted in the miles of jungle until they caught their prey, and when they killed it, they of course were allowed to keep the pelt and the head. The paws and tail too, if they wanted The rest of the flesh was used for food for the living species. Wouldn't the intelligent ones love to know that? 

All around the resort, people were waking up, as all the workers lived at the resort. Safari Joe wandered among them as they started about their duties while the sun rose in the south, promising to be another hot day. "Hey, Kamata, you headed for the west wing?" She was the one that always handled Safari Joe's prized catches; she was his most trusted employee and second in command, so to speak. In fact, she had been the one that had given Usiko and Ze'ev their baths the day before. 

"Yeah, I was going to get the Thunderian and that Mutant kid for their first training session." 

Safari Joe grinned. "Good. Just the basics at first, right? Name, age, and race or clan." The breed was usually obvious, but it was the willingness to answer that was the important thing here. 

Kamata laughed. "Got ya, boss man," she said, shoving he short, light brown hair out of her eyes. She had a friendly affectionate relationship with her employer, as most of the older employees did. She well knew his tendency to make sure everything was done right, though the workers knew their job well. 

"And the huntees--" 

"Kito and Terran already have them in their jungle quadrants." She gave him a list of the names of the hunters that would be hunting them. "They're already paid up," she said before Joe could say anything else. 

The hunter laughed. "You got things well handled, Kamata." 

"Always do, Mr. Gregor," she said with a grin, as she started off. 

Safari Joe scowled, as his face flushed at the name, and he grabbed the shorter woman by the lapel of her tan uniform shirt. "I told you not to use that name!" he growled. 

She had caught it, but it was too late. "Hey, easy, boss man, I forgot. Sorry, my usually magnificent memory failed today." She grinned again at him, knowing he had a temper, and knowing how to dispel it. She was used to it. 

Safari Joe had to chuckle. "All right, all right, go bring those bipeds in here. I want to be there for this session." 

She narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a playful poke in the ribs once he released her shirt collar. "Only if you stay out of it and let me do my job," she said. 

Safari Joe returned the hostile glare, then laughed. He never could outstare her. "Okay, okay, okay. If I don't, you can kick me out." 

She laughed. "Deal." She gave him a wave as she went to retrieve the prey. 

Part 3 

Part 5 

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	5. Chapter 5

5 

Usiko was not happy. Not at all. He was sitting in a cold, hard, spotless, clinic-clean metal chair, strapped to it hand and foot. Ze'ev was being held by a couple of humans across the room, though the meek cub was not causing any trouble. Usiko had not spent a comfortable night. After only a couple of hours of uneasy sleep, he'd been hauled out of the cage, not HIS cage, he refused to think of it as such, and brought here. A strange headpiece device was secured to his head, and the woman who'd bathed him the night before was adjusting come controls on a switchboard. Usiko had an idea what it was he was sitting in, but he kept his cool. He gave a baleful glance to the bald human standing in the corner with his arms crossed. "I really do not like you," he said. 

Safari Joe only laughed. 

From where she stood at the switchboard, Kamata said, "Now this is necessary. Behave and it will go better for you. I want you to tell me your name." 

The young man's blood boiled at being talked to like a child. "Well I am not going to. You don't have to treat me like a child, you know." 

Kamata shook her head. "You are not behaving," she said, and flipped a switch. 

Usiko screamed as a massive amount of pain seared through his body, and panted heavily when it passed. He had not expected it to hurt quite so much. 

Again the question was repeated with the admonition that if he behaved it would go better. He told her where to stick it. The switch was flipped. 

Each refusal was met with the shock and the repeat that he was not behaving. 

Three shocks later he had told them his name. 

"That's better," said Kamata in a no-nonsense voice. She liked animals, but she would not have them disobeying. "Your age?" 

He hesitated, and got shocked for it. With a low growl, he said, "Twenty-four." He was shaking. 

"Race?" 

He gave her a hateful look. "Thunderian, obviously." 

She let that go, as it was his first day. "Clan." 

"I have no clan, I am of many." His eyes were narrowed as he stared intently at the far wall, an he spoke in a low, carefully controlled voice. 

Kamata smiled. "Very good. That's all for your first time." She released the restraints and took off the headpiece, something he never thought he'd be so happy to get rid of. Two of the strong humans took him by the arms and held him against the wall. 

Kamata had the others bring the cub forward. "Wait a minute, don't tell me that you're going to put him through that, he's just a cub!" 

"Quiet," she replied, "Or you will be back in it." 

Ignoring Usiko's frustrated growl, she fastened the device to the cub's head and lowered the strength of the shock. She asked him his name. He of course did not answer, but he did scream when she zapped him. 

As Ze'ev whimpered and began to cry a little, Usiko tired to jerk away form his captors. "You stupid wench, he's deaf, he can't hear you! You have to be facing him!" Seeing the child hurt enraged him to no end. 

She looked up, apparently decided that he was lying, and repeated the question. 

Usiko growled, then looked at the boy, who gave him a frightened look. _Tell her your name_, he mouthed. In a tearful voice, the cub complied. 

Thus went the questioning. Ze'ev only got shocked the once, and then they were returned to their cages as the sun slowly rose over the horizon of the little planet. 

Ze'ev was crying softly as he sat in a corner with his knees drawn to his chest. His back was to the cat. 

Usiko sighed and shakily sat on the bed. He noticed the blanket had been taken, which angered him. He wished he could comfort the cub, but no words could do it. He wondered not for the first time if he had been born deaf or if something had happened. He didn't act like a normal child. 

The Mutant did not move from his spot all day, as the droves of people passed through, dishonorable people to be enjoying seeing captive sentient people, and giggled or just gazed at the exhibits. Usiko saw with disgust many children taken to see the "animals" and wondered what morals those kids learned. 

"Can I pet you?" one little girl asked him as he tried to keep himself covered, sitting on his bed much as the young Mutant was. 

Usiko gave her a dirty look. "No, you can't. Now bug off." 

The little girl looked hurt, and her mother glared at the captive Thunderian. "You wait until I voice my complaint about you!" 

As she led her daughter away from the cage, Usiko rolled his eyes. He'd probably get it later for that. Man, he had to escape. 

Ze'ev and Usiko were fed breakfast right away, for the both of them is was pancakes, decent tasting, but he suspected some kind of vitamin or something had been blended in with the batter; it had a slightly herbal/plant type taste to it. Juice was given with it. He didn't complain at the moment since he was hungry; at least it was on a plate, and there was a small sink next to the privies, so water was always available. Lunch was a sandwich and milk, dinner was larger: a plate of meat and potatoes, some vegetables, a large glass of milk, and some bread. A perfect balanced meal, he thought with a sigh. He noticed Ze'ev had eaten none of it. He wished he could at least comfort the kid, but he couldn't. 

Hours passed and he thought he would go crazy. He could not imagine living here for any length of time. At least they could let him read or something! "Listen to me," he muttered. "I'm already thinking as if I plan to be here for any length of time. I am out of here." The problem was the place looked inescapable, and there were many sentients that had been there a long time, a long, long time. 

As he strolled around the ground, checking things out as he did everyday as the park started to close, and the last stragglers were ushered out the gate, Safari Joe smiled. Attendance had been good that day, better than normal; word had been spread that the hunter had captured another sentient; a Thunderian no less. They were usually not easy finds. 

"So, you enjoying your first day here?" his voice blared at them in its normal, obnoxious, arrogant accent. 

Usiko growled at him. "What gives you the right to cage a sentient being?" he demanded. "We're not animals!" 

He laughed, used to this argument. "You look like it to me, cat!" 

"We may have evolved from cats, but we're no longer animals!" He would not get through on this point, he could see. He had already known he wouldn't, but still, he wasn't just going to take it silently. 

Safari Joe chuckled. "But you're still a cat." 

Angrily: "Humans evolved from monkeys! So I wouldn't talk, baldy!" 

At that, the hunter threw his head back and laughed. "I like you, cat. Smarter than most my former associates. The ones that tried to cross me." He glanced across the large compound to a group of five cages, each with an unhappy human in it. "And you gave me a hell of a better fight. But that doesn't change the fact that you're in a cage, and I'm not." He laughed again, shook his head, and started to walk away. 

Usiko growled in frustration. "Maybe now!" he called. "But that's gonna change!" He made a rude gesture at the hunter's retreating back and covered up with the blanket that had just been put back in the cage. 

As Joe walked past the cages containing the humans for his daily gloat, he looked up at the raised cage when he felt a splat of moisture land on his head with a thick flicking sound. He curled his lip in disgust as he took his kerchief and wiped his head off. 

There was an obnoxious laugh. "Nice shot, Cantel!" one of the captives hooted. They all wore tight shorts, nothing else. 

Cantel grinned at their captor, crossing his arms over his broad, hairy chest. His long, red hair fell across his shoulders as he shook his head. 

Safari Joe only gave him a cold smile. "Still doing your camel impersonation I see. Well you got the looks down. Still think you're so smart? Look who caged whom!" Cantel had been there three weeks, the newest of the human captives. The oldest had been there for seven long years. He had made the mistake of first trying to cheat Safari Joe, and then trying to have him killed. He sat silent. 

"Get off it, you puke. You took down an unarmed man. You're nothing but a coward, Gregor. Great hunter? Right. Big man, taking down animals from behind with you all powerful rifle. Biiig man." He laughed contemptuously. "Just like your father. Yeah, I heard about _him_." He spoke the word as if it were a bug in him mouth to be gotten rid of quickly. "Maybe he had the guts to take on someone face to face, but even he was a weak, limp-wristed wimp, wasn't he?" 

Safari Joe stopped short, his face flushing a deep crimson in the fading twilight. The automatic lights went on. He didn't notice. "What was that you said?" he asked in a quiet voice. 

"You heard me, you miserable, simpering bastard." 

Safari Joe smiled again. His mouth twisted in a dangerous grin that in no way reached his eyes. They nearly burned with rage. A couple of the humans, which consisted of five men and one woman, backed away, and Cantel himself took a couple of steps back. But he didn't back down. "What are you going to do? Shoot me in the back again? Have your goons drag me in the back in your "training" room? Just like you. Juuust like you." 

"You want a fair fight?" Joe asked him. "You want to have a try at me?" The hunter's voice was quiet, but with such an intensity that Usiko could hear him clear across the large compound. He tossed his gun aside, the nearly indestructible rifle landing on the grass with a soft thunk. Then he stripped himself of his belt and his safari coat. Then he took his keys and opened the cage door. "Get out here." The words were hissed. 

Cantel looked a little apprehensive at first and looked around. 

"Oh don't worry, Cantel. You know the place is shut down. No one gets out of here but me after dark. Now get out here. You've run your everlasting mouth, now let's see if there's any man behind it." 

Cantel took one look at the cold, confident expression and jumped from the cage with a grin. "Let's have a little wager. I win, you let all us humans go. You win, well then you'll have had the pleasure of beating the hell out of me." 

Safari Joe narrowed his eyes. "If I win, you won't see the dawn." With that, the hunter struck. 

Usiko watched from his cage, more interested that he would have admitted. Seemed the hunter had some issues. Joe had nailed his opponent with the first blow, rocking him backwards, but Cantel recovered quickly and retaliated. 

For a long time, they exchanged blows. Both tired quickly, and the fight went to the ground more than once, but each time, both men staggered back up to continue. And then, finally, Safari Joe got the upper hand. Both were strong, but the hunter had been conditioned nicely with his years as a hunter in rough, rugged terrain and territories, and he was the victor. He kicked his opponent in the side as he was half collapsed on the ground, panting for breath. 

Joe brought his radio to his lips and called a couple workers to the area. "We have one more for the hunt next week. Get Jandron, he'd love a chance to hunt his own kind down." He grinned at Cantel as he talked. "He can even have the head." Safari Joe had taken some bad hits, and his face was bruised, and bleeding in a couple of places, but he was still standing. 

"You...bastard..." Cantel growled. Without warning, he lunged for the hunter's discarded gun and leveled it at him with some difficulty. "Now who's dead, huh? HUH?!" He pulled the trigger. 

Safari Joe chuckled, not having moved a muscle. Nothing happened, nothing whatsoever. "You really think I'd leave that where you could get it without locking it out?" he said. "I'm not the greatest hunter in the galaxy because I was stupid." Three workers grabbed Cantel from behind, and the gun dropped once more. 

"You'll regret this!" the bested human screamed, as he fought his captors. "I'll kill you!" 

Safari Joe shook his head and sighed as he picked up his garments. Cantel wouldn't be killing anyone, not where he was going. Without a glance at his other captives, who stared at him with a mixture of shock and disgust, he left. He could make his rounds another night. 

Part 4 

Part 6 

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	6. Chapter 6

6 

It had been a week. A whole week. What does a week feel like in a cage the size of a small studio apartment? Especially when every morning before dawn, you're hauled out of that cage for a "training session" and you're naked, and droves of people come to gawk at you and point and say "Oh, how cute!" and ask if they can touch your fur? A whole hell of a lot longer than a week, that's for sure. Usiko asked himself many times which was worse, the hour to two hour training sessions, or the humiliation. He decided that he couldn't tell. 

Ze'ev said little. He was fortunate for his deafness for the reason that he couldn't hear the humiliating remarks, but it was also bad because he couldn't hear a command if one of the humans made it, and sometimes he got into trouble. Much of the staff knew by now that Usiko had told the truth when he said the child was deaf, but some still didn't; and some did, but got mad anyway because they were jerks. And the young hyena could hear no words of comfort from Usiko, no soft voice, just an empty void. 

He spoke almost normally, but he spoke loud, as many who can not hear do since they can't hear themselves. For this reason, Usiko believed that the boy had not been born that way, for those born deaf had never heard sound to know what it was supposed to sound like, they can only imitate mouth movement. Usiko had tried to talk to him, but hadn't been able to find out. Ze'ev mostly sat on the bed-bunk, or on the floor with his back to the people, ignoring any that might reach through the cage to pet him. To him it was the most pleasant thing about the whole ordeal. He didn't mind being petted. He never seemed to show signs of embarrassment, only fear or timidity, or docility. Usiko wondered more and more about him. 

One good thing happened in that week: at the end of it, after his hunt with his former comrade (the others had been very subdued after that), Safari Joe was leaving again. Usiko had learned from others in the same miserable predicament as he that the hunter spent most of his time off planet. He had no family or anything to keep him tied down and he mostly hunted. Usiko had asked what happened when Safari Joe ran out of space in his vast safari display, and he had an animal (or a person, he thought bitterly) he wanted to put in, and he hadn't liked the answer. Not at all. The less desirables...well Usiko understood the "hunts" a little better now. 

"Well, I'm off!" Safari Joe grinned at the Thunderian as he went out the door. 

"Good!" Usiko called back. He glared at the hunter and sat on the bunk. He was getting used to being stark naked in front of everyone and their brother. The training sessions had taught him just what he was supposed to do and how to behave .to avoid pain, a few good shocks through the body illustrating th point if he refused an order. But he did everything with a wary watchfulness. He supposed in time he would be just like the others, doing everything automatically, and obediently. The thought made him shudder. 

Safari Joe was in a good temper and only chuckled. "Maybe I can find you a mate, eh? I don't have any Thunderian cubs yet." 

Despite himself Usiko raised an eyebrow as his eyes widened. He knew that breeding occurred in zoos, with the animals, but surely they would force a sentient being to...and while being watched? 

The hunter grinned again, knowing he'd rattled the cat, then he left. 

As his ship blasted it way into the atmosphere, Safari Joe felt even better. He liked his resort and his home there better than any other, but he was a loner, and an adventurer, and he was happiest away from the people and the lights of a civilization. He was content in a wild jungle, where every moving thing could kill him, or in a silent forest, where at any time, a viscous canine could all of a sudden jump out at him, ready to tear his throat out. It was the thrill of the hunt, and the exhilaration of stalking something that could rip you to shreds in three seconds that he liked. It was what he lived for. 

"Ah, Deverondin. Charted three hundred and sixteen years ago, if you believe the stories." But Deverondin had no inhabitants, no sentient inhabitants, anyway, and no visitors. It was understandable. The desert like moon had no water on it, one of the freaks of the universe, and had no creatures bigger than the average rat dog., but it was among the deadliest known to man. 

There lived no plant, no insect, no animal on the small moon that was not poisonous to some degree. There had been exactly one expedition there, the humans that had found the place only three of the twenty-five person team had gotten out of there alive. They charted it, recorded it, and wisely no one else went there, at least not that was ever written down. There were the occasional madman, or overconfident conqueror, and the more frequent cocky explorer, but they would have been lucky to make it out alive. 

Joe grinned as he thought about this. He would try this place for the first time as a challenge. There were no forests, no jungles, no cover. It was wide open desert all the way through, and the most bizarre creatures he's ever heard of, ones that lived without water. They would make a very popular attraction to his display. The hunter set the autopilot to take them within an hour of the place and leaned back to take a nap. 

*** 

_"You're trying too hard, son," said the strong, confident voice. "If you strain your eyes to see it, you'll pass right over it without ever catching a glimpse. Relax a little. Let your eye see what it will. But stay alert. That thing's dangerous, and it's not happy."_

_The young boy nodded, biting his lip and trying not to show how scared he was. This was his first time hunting something that could do him any harm. He had no doubt his father could take it down with little effort, but he'd said he wouldn't interfere unless he had to. The only comforting fact was that he'd be right at his side the whole time. "A-all right, dad," he said. He'd been ten at the time. He tried to relax a bit, to get rid of the little slivers of tension in his mind that felt like worms crawling through his brain matter. Now that he was not straining for a glimpse of the one thing he was looking for he noticed a lot more. His sharp eye caught movements of small animals in the grass, and his ears were less picky, and heard buzzing from bugs and rustling of leaves. He wiped his face in the stifling heat._

_Cody smiled at his son. "That's better. You see how much more you can observe?" The boy nodded. "All right, let's move on a little." Cody Gregor had thought a long time before deciding his son was ready for this. The planet they had traveled to was safe; nothing more harmful than a drikar snake lived there, a snake which bit with a mouth that had no teeth. It was extremely poisonous but it had no way to convey it to a victim. They ate bugs._

_Joe was scared, but he couldn't admit that to his father. His dad as the bravest man he'd ever met, he couldn't be a coward in front of him. But there was a_ jondron _around here somewhere! His father had caged it, and released it on the tiny planet. After a few hours, they had gone out looking for it. Joe had to take it down without killing it. "Killing is fine when you want meat or a trophy, but for the most part, the challenge is catching something without killing it. Without harming it. When they have natural weapons that can rip you open, that is a major feat," his father had said. Joe had agreed._

_For hours they'd been hunting. Joe's senses were keyed up, the adrenaline flowing like a river through his body. He had experienced this thrill of hunting early in his life, and now it was at its peak. "Wh-what was that?"_

_"Shhh," Cody said gently, then whispered in the boy's ear, "When you see something you can't identify, be quiet. It might be your quarry." He smiled as the boy nodded and crept forward._

_Joe's big eyes were wide as he cautiously approached a small grove of trees. He switched off the safety, kicking himself mentally for not doing it before that, as the click was very loud. The movement he had heard a moment before stopped and he froze._ Now you did it,_ he said to himself. His eyes searched frantically...then he remembered his father's words, and relaxed the smallest bit, picking up input from all his senses. A rustle of grass, but no wind? His eyes widened, and he crouched._

_Joe caught the image of a large feline shape, with a head almost too wide for it's body, and unnatural looking eyes, peeking out for a split second at him, before the beast leapt!_

_It was Joe's observation of the grass that had saved him from serious injury, as the beast sailed over him, as big as a lioness, with wicked claws, and a mouthful of teeth that looked like a cluster of sewing needles. Long sewing needles. Joe knew the lcreature well, he had studied it in books, and on holograph projectors. He screamed once in startlement and pain as the claws raked the side of his face and knocked him to the ground._

_Cody tensed and watched the situation very, very carefully. His son was all right for now._

_As the_ jondron _whirled for another attack, the lithe young boy was already on his feet, and whirled as it did. Both attacked at the same time._

_There was a bright stunner flash, a powerful blast, as the charging beast hit the beam head on, and shook its head, unfazed. Joe leapt to the side, desperate to avoid its claws and its teeth. Frantically jacking up the setting on his weapon, as the beast whirled again to charge, he heard his father's calm voice telling him to think, and to control._

_Again he bit his lip as he thought. He had been made to study weaknesses and strengths. The cat creature was a very hardy thing, not much could hurt its sturdy frame, tough skin, and solid bones...but it had a weak spot! A soft pocket of flesh on the left side of its neck, that almost looked like gills, where both genders carried their young before nthey could walk on their own. He was sure his father would not have captured a carrying animal, he didn't beleive in harming the young, but if he could hit it..._

_With an excited grin, he aimed as his quarry attacked one more time._

_He made it less than three yards. Joe's shot had stopped it cold, and it sprawled in the leaves and dirt. With a wild grin and an excited yell, Joe raised his weapon in the air. "I did it!"_

_Cody smiled proudly and took his son into a manly hug. "Good job. Good job, son. Let's get some rocket cuffs on his and get him back to the ship." He pulled his son back to look at him. "And get those claw marks cleaned."_

_Joe was too excited to worry about claw marks. He felt pain from them, but it was distant. Someone else's pain. He had done it; taken down his first big predator. Just like his dad..._

_***_

Safari Joe opened his eyes with a slightly bewildered look. Why was the jungle beeping? Jungle? The hunter looked at the flashing green light on the console of his ship and came back to his senses. "Ah, almost there," he said to himself, his voice fuzzy with sleep. Great job, just fall asleep before taking on the most dangerous creatures around. He chuckled amusedly, but was a little distracted. He had not dreamt of his father in a long time. But now wasn't the time for that; now was the time to hunt. 

Safari joe's father   
Cody 

Joe as a child, hunting with his father   
Joe 

A jondron, a nasty feline creature that was joe's first big catch   
jondron 

Part 5 

Part 7 

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	7. Chapter 7

7 

He had to be careful where he landed. Very careful. According to his sensors, there were few places to land on this miserable little moon, at least no places solid enough to accommodate a space vessel. Much of the planet was a dry version of quicksand, only soft gravel, impossible to get a hold on. Anyone falling in one of those would be quick to sink. And if a ship landed, well the ignorant pilot could say good bye to his ship; any repulsorlifts or the like would have nothing to repulse _off_ of, unless the craft was of the sort that could blast off from thin air. Safari Joe's ship was not. 

The hunter found a solid patch of ground and only sat there for a moment. He observed. He watched the scanners. Sometimes he missed Mule. Not that he was a sentimental sort, but he'd been the one to do all the research, and now Safari Joe had to waste the time. But he was not stupid enough to forgo it. He knew it was necessary, but that didn't mean he had to like it. 

With a small degree of amazement, he watched a large herd of creatures busting out from one of the quickpits. There were over twenty of them, maybe thirty, felines. Almost looking like malformed lions with razor sharp "fins" extending from their long, thick tails, the little things were no bigger than a large sewer rat. Safari Joe looked them up. Trentsins. There had been no more landing missions to the moon, but there had been observations from orbit; the scientists had not been able to stand not knowing about the moon's unique life. 

Still he watched. Several species of spider and scorpion, and a few unimaginable insect types Safari Joe had never seen before, and could not find in his access to the databanks. There were lizards, snakes, all other manner of reptile, the largest about the same size as the trentsins. Probably the most frightening thing on the planet was an insect; it was also the largest thing on the planet, animal wise. Looking like a cross between a mosquito and a bat, this thing had six hairy legs with little talons on them, a wicked-looking proboscis, tapered to a sharp point and at least six inches long, and a fat, bloated body with insectasoid, bristly fur, and leathery, bug-shaped wings. It looked fat and lazy, but it moved with the speed of a yellowjacket. Not nice looking. Safari Joe grinned. 

"Well, let's see if this moon's as tough as it thinks it is," Joe said, and stood. He pulled on a pair of wire-mesh pants, thin but of an almost impenetrable metal, and a jacket of thick, plastic-like material, a face cage, similar to those a beekeeper would use but made of the same material as the pants, thick boots, and finally, a heavy pair of gloves. "Now I'm ready!" 

Grabbing a small rifle from the wall, one that shot a variety of different nets, and a few minor stun settings, not to mention a scaled down version of the levitating rocket cuffs, he stepped out of the ship and sealed it. 

He had to be careful. The plants? All poisonous to some degree. There were some that shot little barbs that would burn like Tabasco sauce on a deep cut, though it was not fatal. There were some ground cover type grass plants that were covered in venom-oozing bristles that could kill a full grown man on contact, though they never grew more than a couple three centimeters. And those were stationary. Every living animal on the planet was at least as bad, and a lot of them were fast. _Very_ fast. 

Safari Joe looked around the bleak-looking world. The sand was a deep violet hue, the sky a lighter version of the color, looking like a purple twilight, a pale, bleak twilight. That was the look, twenty-four hour a day. And it was hot. The nearest sun was only a fingertip-sized dot that almost blended in with the unnatural sky, but the heat wasn't from that. The upper atmosphere was thick, thicker than on any known planet, and the chemicals in the next layer down were constantly reacting with each other. The lowest layer of air was breathable, but any higher and a person's lungs would be seared, and the person would die if he were foolish enough to breathe it. Safari Joe had done his homework. 

The hunter's sharp eyes scanned the ground and the air. He hunted cats more than anything, and the little trentsins held a good deal of interest for him, though he wouldn't mind capturing a few of the lizards, maybe one of the little mouse sized canines that ran around. They were the least poisonous of the place; their venom was no more than that of a small mosquito. Easy prey for the greatest hunter in the galaxy. 

He took out a hand held scanner and pressed a few buttons, no easy task with the gloves, and took a look around. A flock of the demon bugs above him, a few of the canines scattered around in a twenty-five yard radius, and some plants...a worm-sized snake...hmm. That would be interesting. It looked to be a breed of rattlesnake. Did he have a net small enough for something like that? Of course he did. A hunter is always prepared. 

But he was more interested in the canines. He could hunt the little cat things later, these canines were closer. All around him, twenty yards...wait a minute, fifteen. And there were so many of them! One brave little pip-squeak of a rat-wolf ran up within five yards of the hunter's foot. He glared at it. "What the hell are you guys doing?" The little dog, which had two slitted eyes and a perpetually bared, tongueless mouth, only looked at him, then without warning he leaped. 

"What in the!" Safari Joe had been taken completely by surprise, not something that happened very often. Not a lot about the creatures of these planets was known, and the few observers had never seen a pack, a _full_ pack of the canines attacking a large animal. There _were_ no large animals there to observe, but the little canines seemed to have an instinct for dealing ith bigger prey. 

But certainly that meant they had encountered it before? 

The mouse sized canine easily leaped up to Safari Joe's head height, and snapped at him, however where there had been only a few scraggly looking little teeth were now a large, nasty looking set of fangs. No harmful venom, but a nasty bite. Joe leapt back, barely avoiding the attack. The thing growled, a high pitched sound like a kitten's purr, and attacked again. 

Joe was fascinated; it was almost as if the little thing had turned its mouth inside out to extend the viscous looking fangs to snap out at its prey. The fangs were bigger than it's whole body. 

Just then, Safari Joe noticed the others. A hundred, maybe a hundred fifty now that they were al congregating. He started to get worried. Maybe they weren't poisonous, but he could see that they could easily take down a man. Easily. He had an image in his mind of the deadly _jorick_ ants of Plundaar, that could devour anything it their path, and another image of a school of piranhas of Third Earth. He didn't know which was closer to fitting these thing, but he wasn't about to stay and find out. 

But he soon found that he had hesitated too long. He had no choice. 

About ten of them jumped on him at once, trying to bite through the tough jacket. They almost succeeded. Joe fired off a few blasts from his gun, knocking about a dozen of them away, but they were all converging in on him. He ran. 

The things were fast with their reactions, but their little legs couldn't keep up with a tall man's running strides. Though they tried to swarm him, almost tripping him up, they soon fell behind, Their leaps were built for height, not distance. After a while, they gave up. 

Panting hard, Safari Joe came to a stop and rested with his hands on his knees. He had been bitten four, maybe five times, once on the neck, thankfully a grazing bite when the face net had flipped up for a second. He had been caught twice on one hand, once on the other, and a fifth one had managed to sink his thin fangs in between the mesh on his pant legs. They itched like fire. 

Safari Joe was seriously thinking of giving it up this time, to come back a little more prepared, but then he heard a soft beep on his little scanner. He reached down and with disgust he noticed that on his belt were two of the little dog things. He growled and batted them with all his strength. One went flying, but the other didn't let go. His body was torn from his teeth, and _it_ went flying, but the _teeth_ stayed. His lip curling in a grimace of distaste, Joe pried it off. 

_Now_ he could look and see what the blasted thing was beeping about. That little indicator was set to alert him of anything bigger than what should be on the planet., and there was something. A large something. "A building?" the hunter mused in amazement. "Impossible. There's no one that lives on this moon." After a moment's thought, with only the empty sound of the wind passing over rocky cave formations; and the sharp sting of the mosquito-type venom in the large bites to accompany his thoughts, Safari Joe decided to check it out. Looking down at the indicator, he started north. 

Joe hunting on the moon (drawn sans gear)   
Joe 

A trentsin, a curious little blade-tailed creature.   
trentsin 

The largest creature on the planet, about the sze of a Chihuaua   
bug 

A little canine with unhinging jaws   
ratwolf 

Part 6 

Part 8 

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	8. Chapter 8

8 

Safari Joe approached the building with a high degree of caution. When the hell had _this_ been put up? It was in none of the reports he had scoured before coming here, and the latest had been only a couple of years ago. This place was large, and it appeared to have some kind fence around it. 

After a full fifteen minute gazing at the structure several yards away, and watching carefully for any of the other miserable beasties, Safari Joe decided to just approach. He was the greatest hunter in the galaxy! Why should he be afraid to approach a dwelling? 

He stopped outside the gate. Electrified? Probably. And he saw small, armored boxes everywhere, cameras, most likely. The knowledge that he was being watched made the hairs on the back of his neck salute him. He didn't touch the gate, and instead looked around for some kind of speaker box. 

Before that happened, he started at the unmistakable sound of a laser beam striking the ground directly behind him. He cursed and stumbled back, drawing his weapon, but as he did, about five of the laser strikes flashed around him, and he froze. 

"Put your weapon away before I blast you into pieces for the ratwolves to tear apart." 

Well that was a pleasant thought. Safari Joe narrowed his eyes at the cold voice. The almost dead tone sent a chill down his spine, and he cursed himself for it. A hunter with no fear was a foolish hunter, but one that feared any of his own kind was a coward. "Who am I speaking to?" he demanded, wondering if the as yet unseen man could even hear him. 

His silent question was answered in the form of an unpleasant chuckle. "No one if you don't put away your weapon. You can rot out there." 

Joe bristled at the arrogant tone and growled. But then the tinny, almost comical howl of the Ratwolf packs reverberated through the still, dead desert air, and he sighed, holstering his weapon. "Fine, it's away, now are you going to tell me who you are?" 

There was nothing for a moment, then a slight scraping sound as the gate opened on well oiled hinges, scraping the purplish desert sand aside as it did. "Come on in, it's more pleasant in here." 

Safari Joe narrowed his eyes, but stepped in. The gate closed and locked as he did, as he had expected. "If you're trying to scare me, it isn't working," Safari Joe declared to the unseen voice. 

There was an amused laugh over the intercom. "What gave you that idea?" he said. "I'm not trying to frighten anyone, now you wouldn't be feeling nervous, would you?" 

Joe curse as he approached the building. He had inadvertently let the bastard know he was uneasy. "No, just laughing at your dramatics." 

"Dramatics? You think this is a bit much?" Safari Joe voiced an affirmative. "You've seen the locals of this place. in fact it would seem as if you had a bout with some of them yourself. I prefer to stay all in one piece." 

The hunter had no answer to that. 

As he reached the door of the large square building, he tried it, and found what he expected. Locked. "Well, you gonna let me in, or what?" 

"Put your weapon in the box next to you and take the key. You may retrieve it on your way out." 

"Go to hell!" came the response. Nothing. "You know I'm not stupid, now why would I go into an unknown situation unarmed?" 

"I would be equally as unwise to admit an armed stranger into my abode. You'll either abandon the rifle or stay out there all day." 

Any further protests were ignored, and the hunter finally sighed and tossed the weapon in, yanking out the key and pocketing it. He got a courteous "Thank you," which he answered with a grumbled curse. He heard a faint click and tried the door again; this time it opened, and he cautiously stepped inside. 

The place almost looked like a military establishment, or a large school. There were tiled floors and a lot of doors. "Now where are you, ghost man?" 

"Just follow the corridor and turn right the first chance you get. It will be the first door on your left." 

Safari Joe followed the instructions, keeping his hand by his hunting knife in case he ran into anyone he didn't want to see. He opened the door, almost surprised _it_ wasn't locked against him as well. His eyes immediately took in his surroundings as he stepped in. He had to admit, it was almost the kind of office he had at the safari compound. There was a large, polished, wooden desk at the far end, and animal furs along the walls; a large chair sat to one side, and a large filing cabinet rested in the corner. Joe's eyes were drawn to the man behind the desk. 

The man that stood to greet him seemed to be around in his fifties, maybe his early sixties, but in excellent shape. In a time where humans rarely lived past 120, he was nearly in the prime of his life. He had short salt-and-pepper hair, a slight, but well built physique, narrow eyes, and an unpleasant smile. Safari Joe scowled. "Who the hell are you?" he repeated. 

The man chuckled. "You come to _my_ home and behave like that?" His words held a mocking quality that Safari Joe didn't care for at all. "Have a seat." 

"I'll stay standing, thanks," came the sneered reply. 

"Suit yourself. I think I should ask who you are first, my friend." He smiled. 

Safari Joe felt a chill run through him as the man spoke and with growing frustration wondered why in the hell his mind was doing this to him. This man was at least three inches shorted than he, and though his frame was strong, it was slight; Safari Joe had at least twenty pounds on him, if not more. Why was he getting the heebie-jeebies? It was the smile, he decided. It didn't match his eyes, which remained cold and piercing, almost like the gaze of a hawk. But still, he, who had faced the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy sentient or not, shouldn't be unnerved by something as small as a smile. "I'm Safari Joe, the greatest hunter in the galaxy," he declared. "Now who are you?" He narrowed his eyes once more. The man had acted amused, as if he'd already known who he was. Then why the hell ask? 

"My name is Kairo Zarack." 

Again, the chill. Safari Joe had the unwelcome feeling that he had met this man before. But that was impossible! He would have remembered one who had this kind of effect on him. "Yeah, glad to meet you," he mumbled. 

"The feeling is mutual." Again the hint of mockery. "I see you've been a bit injured. Perhaps you'd like to tend your wounds and rest a bit." 

"Yeah, all right," Safari Joe said, and moved aside for the man to step out, then followed. 

Safari Joe was left in the infirmary with his thoughts. Who _was_ this guy? Why did he feel like a child frightened of the dark when he was around him? 

When he was shown a room, he warily sat on the bed, these thought swirling around in his head. Tomorrow he would find out. But then, he thought, why put off until tomorrow what can be done today? 

The hunter listened carefully for the man, Zarack, to go to bed himself. When he did, the hunter stole silently from his room. He had some things to find out. 

Part 7 

Part 9 

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	9. Chapter 9

9 

Safari Joe crept silently through the half darkened halls. For some reason it brought back a memory of walking through his school when he was a child during one of the night activities, a concert or something, and there only being lights on in a few places. The rest was darkened and silent, his bare footfalls being the only sounds on the cold tile, and that was barely a shuffle. He had shirked his protective "armor" for lack of a better word, and was once again clothed comfortably in his tan breeches and coat-shirt. 

As he skulked, he asked himself again why he was creeping around in the dead of night like some kind of bat, there was nothing solid to tell him that something was wrong, but all the same, there was. A hunter's instincts are nearly as finely tuned as they prey he stalks. 

A noise in the hall... Safari Joe narrowed his eyes and turned around to see. Only a mouse. He chuckled a bit. The man he had met here seemed to be as avid a hunter as he, though not as good, and he had mice running around. It was then he hear a loud snap, echoing lightly in the empty corridor. The skittering of the tiny paws stopped short; maybe he did have that taken care of as well, he thought. For some reason the thought disturbed him. 

Shaking off the thought, Joe made his way to where he remembered the office having been. He'd walked into a few other doors on the way, finding they'd been used for storage; storage of skins and stuffed animals. The real kind. Apparently, ol' Kairo Zarack had a skill for taxidermy, more skill than Joe in that particular aspect, but that was something the hunter would only admit to himself, and maybe not even then. 

So, he was a hunter as well, not only that, but he seemed to be in the shipping business. Well that explained the security, and the location on this god-forsaken moon. The authorities wouldn't like Kairo too much, as most the creatures he had seen in there were illegal to hunt, and CONTROL could bust him good. He'd be the kind of guy Joe would hang around with had he not spooked him so much. 

Ah, here was the office. The hunter opened the door onto a small kitchen. Okay, maybe not. Joe Gregor could find his way anywhere, on any moon, on any planet, if he was outside...even in the densest jungle, or the most barren desert with nary a landmark to go by; he could find north or south, or whatever passed for those directions on that particular world. But in a building he got turned around. 

Grumbling in mild aggravation, he turned around again. The thought occurred to him that he might be on camera right now, but the further thought occurred that he didn't care, Kairo could jump into a quickpit so far as he was concerned. 

After a few more mishaps, Joe stumbled upon the office and grinned wildly as he found it unlocked. Ahhh, files. Files could be such entertaining things, full of useful information. 

An hour later he amended his thoughts: _sometimes_ they were entertaining. Right now they held exactly no entertainment value for him, and about as useful at the moment. The hard copies were nothing but names and dates, and information on what he supposed were shipments. Safari Joe did sometimes sell his catches or his taxidermy work, but he did things a little differently in the way of paperwork. It wasn't really relevant, but it did make reading the files a little more difficult. But he managed. Kairo's name was all over the place, but he still found nothing that told him _who_ he was. The name meant nothing. 

Two hours later, he was frustrated, and his fingers were cramping up on him from shuffling through the folders. "Hell!" he spat softly as he put the last of the files away. He turned towards the computer. 

Turning it on, his eyes squinted a little bit from the bright green glow of the flat holoscreen that quickly shifted into a more likable color of dark gray. Dull, but easy on the eyes. 

"PASSWORD, PLEASE." 

"Damn." He tried a word: "Hunt" 

"ACCESS DENIED." 

"Predator..." He spoke the word quietly aloud as he typed it in. He was never very good with computers; his workers, namely Kamata, dealt with most the computer and paperwork. 

He tried a few more phrases: 

"ACCESS DENIED." 

"ACCESS DENIED." 

"ACCESS DENIED." 

Joe pounded the desk lightly in frustration. The password could be anything! Any combination of letters, even numbers! It could be the name of an old girlfriend, or the species he had first hunted, or the name of his college, for all he knew. He sighed and sat back in the chair. 

Needless to say, he was badly startled to hear an amused voice at the doorway. "Having some difficulty, Mr. Gregor?" 

Joe was on his feet in less than a second, sending the chair flying across the large office to skid into the fur covered wall. Angry he'd allowed this meek looking old man to sneak up on him, he angrily replied, "Don't call me that!" Then he looked at the computer. "I was just, uh..." Damn it all! Say something for Pete's sake! 

Kairo chuckled. "All you had to do was ask." He gave his guest that infuriating grin and leaned over to punch in a few keys. Unfortunately, Joe could not tell what he had typed, as it had been too fast. 

"Well, never mind. I'm going back to bed." The words were spoken in a slight rush, the rush of one trying to cover up embarrassment, or a similar emotion. 

"Pleasant dreams." The man's cold gray eyes told Joe that he wished anything but. 

"Right..." Safari Joe stalked out, muttering something derogatory about the man in another language. 

Kairo Zarack smiled amusedly after him and chuckled as he shut off the monitor. He had seen the whole thing on the carefully hidden cameras and the monitors that he had in his own quarters, of course but he'd chosen to let the hunter find his way around. It was good for entertainment value, as well as let him know the man's weaknesses and strengths, his intelligence and his cunning. But he had not been able to resist walking in on him; he had been concentrating so hard on his password. A simple one, really, but one his guest would never guess: "Gregor". 

*** 

Back on Safari Joe's resort planet, the days stretched on once more. The new captives found out what the others had already known: that the exhibits were not allowed to sleep in the day, not the sentient ones, and not the feral ones either, unless they were nocturnal. Usiko had argued that cats _were_ nocturnal, and had gotten the good natured admonition from Kamata that he was also smart enough to be able to sleep when he was told to. By this time, Usiko and Ze'ev had been through enough training sessions that neither of them were willing to push it any farther. 

Usiko was bored out of his mind. Once in a while Kamata was nice enough to give Usiko a book to read, but he was a fast reader, and they didn't last long. He'd finally taken to using the equipment in the cage to relieve some of his pent up frustration and emotions. He had planned on doing that anyway, at night when there were not many people around, but they had made it clear that if he wanted to sleep, he had to do it then. And so he swallowed his pride for now. 

Ze'ev, as usual, was quiet and obedient. The human scum that ran the place was getting used the cub's inability to hear, but the meaner-tempered ones still usually smacked him for it. Fortunately, they had little contact with the captives. 

After they had been there couple of weeks, and he had watched the young cub and seen the sadness in his eyes, Usiko couldn't stand it anymore. After a long time of haggling, he managed to convince Kamata to let him stay in the same cage with the hyena cub, at least for a little while. He had to talk to him, do something. 

Ze'ev was looking curiously at him as Kamata let him in, two burly guards with her to assist if necessary. They needn't have bothered; Usiko didn't want to cause trouble. 

As the fleeting though that he was getting used to being naked in front of everyone flashed through his mind, a disturbing thought somehow, the young Thunderian smiled at the Mutant child. "Hey," he said softly. There was no need to talk loudly; he couldn't hear him. 

Keeping his eyes trained on the feline's lips, he crossed his arms over his skinny chest, looked down, and said, "Hi." 

Usiko frowned, not sure how to start, but then approached the boy. "Hey, kid...Ze'ev..." He sat down next to the child and looked at him, trying to muster a friendly expression. "I hope you don't mind, I just wanted to talk a little bit, I got kind of lonely over there by myself." It was mostly truth, but also he hoped to set the boy more at ease by admitting that of himself. It seemed to work, a little. 

The boy looked a little shyly at him. "I don't mind." 

Usiko smiled. "Hey, you know you might want to try and talk quieter. Those jerks over there can probably hear." Now he only mouthed his words carefully, knowing the boy could understand where no one else could. 

He was pleased when Ze'ev smiled a little. "Okay." 

Usiko was a little surprised that he knew how to lower a voice. Had he been deaf from birth, he didn't suppose he would understand that concept. "Hey, have you always not been able to hear? Were you born deaf?" He spoke in a tone of gentle curiosity. 

Ze'ev bit his lip, looked down, and shook his head. 

"Oh? What happened?" Ze'ev didn't answer. 

"Okay...how about your family? You have any brothers or sisters?" 

Ze'ev looked down a little and blurted out, "I used to, now they're sold!" he burst into tears, the most emotion he'd seen on his face before then. 

Usiko felt bad He hadn't meant to make him cry. "Hey...hey," he said in a soothing voice, although he realized it would have little effect. So he did the only other thing he could think of. He cautiously reached out to hug the boy. 

Ze'ev accepted the comfort. Both had their backs turned to the crowd, and it was rainy, so there were few visitors. That was good, this shouldn't happen with an audience. 

"Who...who sold them?" he asked when the boy looked at him next. 

Ze'ev looked down, looking ashamed. "My parents." 

This was said so low that even Usiko could barely hear it. "Your what?" He was glad the cub could not hear that outburst, and was looking away. The feline's anger at the boy's parents and the Mutants in general grew. He lifted the child's chin. "You too?" Ze'ev nodded, and Usiko drew him back into the embrace. No wonder he was so submissive. 

They talked a while. Usiko's anger only grew when he found out how the boy had been deafened. It had been done on purpose by one of the many slavers on Plundaar. Ze'ev had been only six. 

"Hey," he said to the cub. "Would you like for me to stay here with you from now on?" 

Smiling a little, there was no hesitation when he nodded. 

Usiko smiled back. "Good. I am sure they will let us." He looked down at the cub and did not even notice a child reaching up to pet his back as he leaned against the cage. 

Part 8 

Part 10 

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	10. Chapter 10

10 

The next night, at Kairo's little shipping depot, Safari Joe tried his nighttime routine once more. And again he was caught. Kairo was completely pleasant, and helpful, always willing to show the hunter what he wanted to know. Joe was humiliated. He did not like being outsmarted, and there were few that were able. He was hunter, not prey! He knew of course there were cameras about the place, and he knew by that second night that his host was playing with him. Kairo knew he was making these late night trips and yet allowed him to do it. That is for a little while, then he came in just to let him know he'd been seen. But he let Joe get pretty far each time before that! Either he _wanted_ him to see what was going on, or he had no intention of letting him out alive. The hunter bristled with anger every time he thought about this possibility. _No one_ caged the greatest hunter in the galaxy! 

Slowly but surely, as the days went by, Safari Joe found out more and more about his host, even though he kept walking into humiliating ambushes, confronted by the unpleasant smile and the completely bogus intent to help. The more he found out, the more he didn't like him. It was nearing the end of his intended stay on the little desert moon, but he didn't care. He had this horrible nagging feeling that he knew the other human from somewhere, he _had_ to know who he was! He had a feeling that as soon as he found out, Kairo would be taking that miserable jerk Cantel's place in a cage. 

*** 

Back on Safari Joe's safari estate, Usiko and Ze'ev had convinced Kamata to let them live in the same cage. The young Mutant had gone through his whole life without comfort, without having someone to trust. He could not even trust his parents. But this cat, who normally should have been a deadly enemy to his species, offered him the only comfort he had received in his whole life. he had never been held, or sung or read to when he was able to hear it. He had never been rocked or tucked in at night, and he was even unused to being smiled at as a sentient being. His only parents had been slavers, even his natural ones. 

And so; even though because of this life of hardship and pain, and because Mutants were enemies of Thunderians, and it should have been very hard for the child to trust anyone; he had no problem accepting the feline as a friend. He trusted Usiko more than he had ever trusted anyone else. 

Usiko had found out a lot more about the boy and his unpleasant life. Since birth, he had been trained and treated as a slave by his own parents, him and his seven brothers and sisters. He had been the youngest. At age three, when he was old enough, he was sold at auction. Many Mutant parents sold their children off, it was very profitable, and they felt no love. The Mutants that had good, decent hearts despised their countrymen for this. 

Ze'ev had been in the clutches of many different slave owners in his young life, some cruel, some kind, some only fair. It was a cruel one that had caused his deafness. He had been only six, and talked with the other slaves. They had all dreamt of being free, like other Mutants, and had planned an escape. 

Three died, two were brought back. Ze'ev never saw the other again, an adult, but himself had endured hours of the excruciating shriek of an electronic siren, blasted through a set of tight fitting earphones. He had not wanted to say what it felt like to have his eardrums shattered. Usiko did not blame him. He had been terrified after that for months. He still wasn't all the way used to it, even after four years. 

Usiko in turn told the child about himself. He was from Thundera, and lived with his father, mother, and younger sister. They had been commoners, tradesmen. Usiko had just finished his apprenticeship with his father in his leather working shop, making boots, armor, sheaths, holsters belts, purses, many other things. he had often dreamed of being a warrior, but his family gently reminded him that not many had that honor, and there were none in the family that knew how to fight. They certainly did not have enough money to hire an instructor. And so the young man dreamed. He carried with him a hunting knife that his father had before him, though neither had ever hunted in their life. It had been Usiko's grandfather's. He had not hunter for sport, like the bastard that had caught him and Ze'ev, but to feed his family. And so it was handed down. 

His little sister, at eight years old, had just eagerly started learning the trade when the announcement finally came: Thundera was being evacuated. One small bag per Thunderian, that was all that was allowed. Photographs made up most of his mother's belongings, and he put his favorite books and some leather working tools into his own bag, as well as some of his stories and letters from friends. 

They had all gotten into their capsules. they knew it would be a long, long time before they landed where they were going, and said their good-byes. His sister was scared. So was he. But they would see each other again when they landed. 

However, they could not count on the Mutants. 

The real tragedy was not just that thousands of people were left to die on the doomed planet, but that those that did escape were struck down by the Mutants. Few were blown into space to survive in their capsules. Usiko had lost hope of seeing his family again. 

Ze'ev was fascinated by these stories, and those he told of the ThunderCats and their king, Claudus. After his older friend finished one story, he would beg him to tell another. Usiko was glad to oblige. He had gotten used to the child staring at his lips when he spoke, and found he liked storytelling. The two grew close. 

When two weeks went by, and there was sign of the hunter, they were curious. Not in anyway unhappy that he wasn't back on time, but curious. There were also other changes that were occurring there at the resort. 

*** 

Safari Joe was having his own problems. He had found out everything he could about his "host", and he still had no idea who he was. He was perfectly cordial the whole time, and as happy to extend his hospitality to the hunter, but all the time, he gave him that smile that wasn't a smile. The smile that didn't reach the cold, heartless glint of his eyes. 

Kairo had been a hunter in his youth. One of the best. One of the least scrupulous. And one of the most successful; when he grew older, he still hunted, but got more into shipping. He was just as successful at this than his earlier profession. He had been wanted by CONTROL for half a dozen violations, and one more serious that the others. And that was what Safari Joe could not for the life of him find out. Kairo didn't _want_ him to find out. Not yet. He wasn't done toying with the hunter in his home. 

Joe knew he should be heading back. He knew that he should be getting himself back to his hunter's resort and forget this ridiculous quest. But he could not. he was a curious human by nature, but this went beyond that. There was something driving him on. Maybe it was the mocking twist of Kairo's mouth, or the sickening feeling he got when he tried to rack his brains as to where he had met the man before. And he didn't even seem to care that Safari Joe was there. Not at all. he conducted his business as usual by communicator and computer, and his shipments were sent and received by drone ship so no one ever had to land on the hostile little moon. And the moon was in no one's jurisdiction. When Kairo was ready to move on, he would make sure he had nothing with him that could possibly incriminate him. Kairo Zarack was a cunning, intelligent man. 

On the first night of the third week Joe Gregor sighed and lay down in his borrowed bunk. And he dreamt... 

*** 

_Again he was with his father. After the young man had caught the Jondron, he had rapidly learned more and more, and become very good in his hunting. By the time he was twelve, he could be called a seasoned hunter. He had gone on three hunting trips alone, and caught or killed countless creatures with his father, though his father lent him no help. He had his own creatures to hunt._

_Cody Gregor was proud of his son. He was intelligent, and a good learner, and he was getting strong. The young man had not yet hit puberty, and his young bones would not support a lot of muscle, especially since he was a little skinny for his age, but he was wiry. What muscle he had was well toned and well defined, and he was tough._

_This month, Cody and his son would be going to a place they had gone so many times before, even before the boy had caught his first jondron. Joe had hunted there as a small child, because its natural inhabitants were not dangerous, and were good for a small boy to practice on. He also loved the tropical climate of the little planet; a balmy jungle climate, with a lot of rivers and waterfalls and natural fountains. He could live there, he had decided. He wouldn't mind at all._

_Joe was excited. He always loved going to the uncharted jungle planet, but this time it would mean disaster. He had thought it before to be a sanctuary; it would be no longer._

_"Come_ on, _Joe!" the half annoyed, half amused voice of his father drifted into the house._

_Joe Gregor grinned and laughed, a pleasant, boyish sound, one that the girls would find very attractive if he was interested in them. He wasn't, not yet. "I'll be there in a minute, Dad!" he called. He was gathering his gear. He wanted to be ready for anything._

_"It's about time. What, were you packing your whole room up?" Had anyone else spoken these words, the young man would have taken offense, but Joe only grinned once more._

_"Yeah, you have a problem with that? I'm a hunter, you know, I have to be prepared!"_

_Cody Gregor threw his head back and laughed hard. He smacked his son lightly upside the head. "Boy, you're getting cocky, kid," he said affectionately as they got into the shuttle. "Gonna have to do something about that."_

_Joe gave his father an impish grin. "How many people say I act just like you?"_

_Cody laughed again. "Many. And I am proud to hear them say it."_

_Joe thought a minute. "Me too."_

_The first few days on the planet were uneventful._ too _uneventful. They had not seen a single prey animal, only the little species that denned there._

_"Where are all the animals?" Joe asked his father one day as they went out one more time to hunt._

_"Not sure, son. This place is usually teeming with creatures. That's why we don't come here often, we don't want to overhunt..." He frowned a little._

_"What, Dad?"_

_"Nothing." But still he was trouble, and Joe could see it. But for now he said nothing._

_The day progressed, and still they found nothing. Both were getting tired and cranky, and they had decided to go back home early, and try again another place another week. But they never got the chance._

_As they headed back to the ship that served as their living quarters while on a trip, they heard something in the bushes. Something big. Cody grinned slowly, the first time all day he'd smiled, as he and his son had been completely frustrated by that point. "Looks like we might not go home empty-handed after all, Joe," he whispered. "Be ready."_

_The child nodded and readied his rifle. He was not yet strong enough to carry one as his father did, the heavy duty, all-purpose hunting rifle, but the one he held was full power and worked well enough for him._

_As the team crept forward toward their prey, the prey suddenly stepped from the bushes. On two legs. Wearing a nasty grin and leveling a rifle of his own at the two. Both stepped back in surprise. "Who are you?" Joe asked, his voice a little higher from alarm that he would have liked._

_"Ask your daddy, little rat," the man said to him, and Joe frowned. He didn't much care for being called a little rat, and he raised his rifle._

_The new arrival only laughed, an Joe looked uncertainly at his father. To his surprise he looked angry and tense, and a little bit afraid! His father, afraid! "Back off, Joe," he said in a low voice._

_Joe had never seen his father look quite like this. He looked hard at the other guy, a guy not as old as his father, maybe in his twenties. "Hey, I know you! you call yourself the best hunter in any world, but you're not!"_

_"Joe, I said stay out of this!" Joe blinked and backed off as Cody glared at the other man. "What do you want? No wonder there has been no prey."_

_The other man smiled nastily. "That's right. Because a real hunter got to it first." He took only a second to grin at Joe. "So, your dad has been called the greatest hunter in the galaxy. Well you know what, kid? I think I am. But unlike this weakling, I collect more challenging prey than the dumb animals you guys trap."_

_Cody's eyes narrowed. "Leave us be. We have no quarrel with you."_

_The other man's smile suddenly dropped. "Well I have with you!" Then he fired!_

_Joe Gregor's eyes widened as his father ducked, having seen the shot coming. He fired back, but his weapon was only on stun, and he had no time to change it!_

_As the two men tussled, Joe switched his rifle to a deadly level, but before he could even raise it, he screamed at a searing pain in his arm, and he and the gun went flying backwards. The other hunter had shot him in the arm! Too shocked to yet feel pain, he stared openmouthed as the fight went on._

_Cody had seen this and heard his son's scream. With renewed effort, he struck his opponent with the butt of his gun. It connected! But the other man did not give him time to recover his gun. He raised his own and shot him. Just shot him in cold blood._

_Cody Gregor dropped, collapsed on the jungle floor before his horrified son's eyes._

_The other hunter grinned. He had a bloody nose and a gash on his head, but he had been the victor. For good measure, he put another round in the body of Cody Gregor, grinning deliberately at the kid. Then he bent down, drew his large knife, and jabbed it into the fallen hunter's throat, severing the head carefully from the body. He kept a close watch on Joe, but need not have worried The boy was staring horrified, unable to move._

_As the victor finally got the head cleared and raised the bloody object in triumph young Joe finally screamed. He screamed in terror and rage and grief. Finally he came out of his paralysis. He went for his gun, now set on kill, and aimed._

_But once again the older, more experienced hunter was faster, and he took his own gun and swung it to connect with the side of Joe's head. In his fury, Joe had made the mistake of getting too close._

_With the boy lying dazed on the floor next to the body of his father, the man grinned at him and walked away. "Enjoy yourself, kid."_

_For a minute nothing happened. Then Joe broke into loud sobs as he clutched the mutilated body of his murdered father._

_***_

Safari Joe sat bolt upright in bed, stifling a scream. That would be all he needed, to scream where that bastard Kairo would hear. Damn. 

He closed his eyes and went out to pace the halls, stopping at the bathroom to get a drink. Finally he had calmed down. Why now? he thought he had left that behind. He hadn't dreamt of his father in years. Why now were these visions haunting him? With a weary sigh, the hunter went back to bed. 

Part 9 

Part 11 

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	11. Chapter 11

11 

Safari Joe was already late, and he should be getting back. He had wanted to find out who his mysterious host was on that forgotten moon in the middle of space, orbiting a dead, unlivable planet, but he just could not. 

A couple of days after this unpleasant dream, he barged in on Kairo at his desk in his office. "I'm leaving," he said abruptly. "So open the doors." Kairo always kept the doors locked, and to be frank, Joe didn't blame him. He looked the man over one last time, the mocking mouth, the deceptively slight build, the salt and pepper hair, the tanned, rugged face. He memorized it as if he were a dead lover a young man did not want ever to forget. Joe didn't want to forget, all right. He wasn't done with Mr. Kairo Zarack. 

Kairo looked up mildly and smiled. "Of course, Mr. Gregor. 

Joe clenched his teeth, That was another reason he didn't like the man, He insisted on calling him Gregor. He hated that name. He hated it. It brought him shame and humiliation. It was early into his teens that he donned the name "Safari Joe". 

"Fine...then open up." 

Kairo smirked and stood. He reached for a control panel on the desk and punched in a code, then a few commands; they were done too fast for Joe to see them. It didn't matter, nothing happened. Kairo frowned, but Safari Joe thought that he could see an amused upturn twitching at the end of his lip. "Seems it does not want to open," he said. He tried again. nothing. 

Safari Joe growled angrily and grabbed the man's collar. "Don't give me that crap, you miserable little blighter!" He was a lot heavier than he looked! "Either you open those doors..." Joe whipped out his hunting knife and placed its tip to the man's Adam's apple. "Or I'll skin you and sell the hide to your own customers." 

The hunter spoke in a low intense tone, and for a moment, Kairo looked alarmed, truly alarmed. Then the expression changed. Nothing physically changed, but all of a sudden the alarm was plastic, fake. And that amused glint was back. "Mr. Gregor, there's no need to get violent. I do not wish to be trapped here any more than you do." He glanced down to the knife. "Please put that away, and let's figure this out. It's probably only computer failure, easily fixed." Joe didn't move, and Kairo's eye gained a nasty glitter. "Of course doing things the old way, you know little of computers..." His tone was still innocent... "...if you were to...skin me...I would hardly be in any position to let you out." 

Beneath the little slime's good manners and pleasant speak, Safari Joe sensed something much more feral, and far less educated in his demeanor. Maybe he'd learned to act cordial, but he hadn't always. He wasn't sure how he knew that though...instinct? Intuition? Memory? "Fine," he growled, and released him. A small thread of blood trickled from the man's neck. "You work on this, I'll be in my room." With that, he stalked out. 

Kairo laughed when he left and sealed off his office. The little brat wanted to leave; it was time to let him know who was in charge here. It was time to introduce him to the automatic defenses in this place, very handy for CONTROL officers and the like that came in trying to shut him down, but even more handy against rivals and those whom he had made enemies of. 

He had expected the hunter to realize it a lot sooner, and he was a little disappointed. He had planned to spring this at that point but now would have to do. 

Safari Joe whirled around at the bout of laughter. What was that miserable little puke up to? It was evident a moment later, though. 

"Joe Gregor!" came a cheerful, less prissy voice from the loudspeakers. Joe narrowed his eyes. "This office seems to have a problem too...I'll have to check this thing." he sounded anything but regretful, he sounded like he was playing a game. "I have an escape route here, good for rivals and enemies, but there would be no way to get back in here, maybe you can find a way out." He laughed. "You're a smart man, aren't you?" 

Safari Joe narrowed his eyes. So, this was the game, huh? "You'll regret messing with Safari Joe!" he yelled to the walls, not even knowing if he would be heard or not. 

There were microphones in the cameras. An innocent tone that dripped sarcasm came back over the intercom. "Messing? Why I'm just trying to help you. Maybe the ratwolves got into the wiring, huh? Aren't they your favorite?" 

Joe growled. "All right. I'll play this little game. Then we'll see who is the greatest hunter in the galaxy!" 

This time the voice had dropped all innocence and etiquette. "We both know the answer to that, Gregor, as you have already found out." 

There was no more. Safari Joe growled in frustration and moved as if to strike the wall in anger, but stopped himself. He didn't want to risk hurting his hand; he might need it to fight his way out. He'd known all along this guy was trouble. 

He ran down the hall. 

Safari Joe tried every single door in the place that he had found in his snooping, and every one of them was locked, and strong as steel. Hell, they probably _were_ steel, the hunter thought in frustration. Much of this frustration was at himself...he should know by that point if his gut told him it was bad, to stay away, but no. He had to be all macho, and end up in this ridiculous situation. 

He sighed and leaned against the wall, replacing his knife back in its sheath, making sure it stayed easily accessed. Now what? Think. Analyze the situation. Find out how it can be solved.. These were among the many things he had been taught of hunting, if one had the time to do it. Even in an attack by his prey, he could go through these steps quickly enough to do something about it. Situation? "Some crazy old gooney bird has me locked in his stronghold, that's what," he muttered to himself. Locked doors, but what about a fire escape? Or maybe a trapdoor on the roof? In the floor, was there a basement? He hadn't seen one, but that didn't mean there was none. Well let's find out, he said to himself. 

As he searched, he heard the maddening voice come through the speakers. It must be dispatched through the whole blasted building! "By the way, when did you get that ridiculous nickname, Gregor?" 

Safari Joe growled, but didn't answer. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. 

He thought about it though... 

** 

_After his father's death, the twelve year old boy, almost a teenager, but still only a child, had stayed by his father's body for hours, only sobbing helplessly in the dense, humid jungle. If one ignored the obvious mutilation of the missing head, he looked the same: a rugged man with carrot red hair, a much lighter shade than Joe's own deep red, clad in khaki green boots and trousers, with a tan shirt and a brown vest. There were even the mud stains on the knees where both he and Joe had fallen in a patch of mud from a recent rainstorm earlier that day, only hours ago! Joe still smelled the sweat, and the smell his clothing, a heat resistant material, and the leather of boots, all of this was right, all of it. but then there was what wasn't right._

_There was the tangy stench, almost like copper, hot copper, of blood, as it ran from the shoulders and neck. There was the smell of the other man's weapon, a burnt smell that his own weapon made, but this was from one different than what he carried. Worst of all was the most subtle; it wasn't identifiable, and yet even at that age he knew what that smell was, lurking jut under all the others: death. A barely discernible odor, a sickening, dull smell... Maybe it was his imagination, but probably not._

_Joe stayed there for hours, until the bugs had started to swarm, and he ignored them._

_He did not move until it was dark out, and the calls of the night creatures resounded thorough the jungle. The boy did not cry now, he could cry no more. He gasped for breath in sharp pants, from the amount he had sobbed, hyperventilating. But finally he was able to gain some kind of control over himself._

_Stiffly staggering to his feet, he took a last look at his father and ran._

_Joe knew that jungle inside and out, and even without light, after falling many times, and cracking his head twice on low hanging branches, he made it back to his father's ship. His bare arms and legs were scratched and bleeding from the thorns and the dirt when he fell, but he felt nothing, nothing at all. Only numbness. He got his mother on the radio._

_Things happened fast after that. They were a day away from home, but she made it there in seven hours at top speed. She had CONTROL meet her there. Joe had led them to his father's body and told them what had happened in a low, unfeeling voice, almost as if he were not really there. He was questioned over and over, who was he? What did he look like? What did he say? The young boy told them all he could remember as his mother held him tight and sobbed into his unruly red hair._

_They never jailed him. They found him, but after many months of court proceedings and record checking, and the like, it was determined that the act was committed out of the jurisdiction of any law, and therefore nothing could be done. The hunter that had killed a boy's father in front of his eyes and taken his head as a trophy would walk away scot-free._

_Joe watched the killer's face a he walked cockily out of court. He studied it. He studied the black hair and dark brown beard, and the glittering, hateful eyes. he vowed he would remember them. He swore it._

_As time went on, where his father was once talked about as a legend, Cody Gregor was now the object of scorn. he had let himself be killed by another hunter, and as the hunting profession became more brutal, often paralleling with that of bounty hunting, Cody Gregor's outdated method of hunting was also brought out to be scorned. Cody Gregor would never take a sentient being, and would never overhunt. When he killed, he made it fast and painless, and those he captured, he treated well. Joe Gregor had hoped to follow in those footsteps, but not now._

_Joe's classmates would mercilessly taunt him, and he got in many a fight, but his father's training made him well suited for this, and he lost only one fight, against three others. but even then he sent one to the hospital. He was kicked out of school._

_His mother grieved, but she grieved for both her husband and her son, for she had lost him as surely as her life mate. Joe was a different young man. He became more violent, less responsible and he shunned all the values his father had taught him in those few precious years. Joe himself came to hate his father for bringing the shame that others heaped on him. He threw away everything that reminded him of him, but one picture. As much resentment as he felt he could not bring himself to cast away all memory._

_By the time he was eighteen, his mother was dead, killed in a space shuttle when it lost control and crashed in city square. The big tragedy of the year. The young man set out on his own._

_He dropped the name Gregor. He was trying to build a reputation for himself and the name of shame weighed him down, haunted him, even after all those years. His father had become a legend all right, a legendary fool. The newly dubbed Safari Joe became his own legend in hunting circles, and he hunted as the other did. Sentients, feral creatures, even bounty hunting once in a while, and selling off his catches._

_**_

Safari Joe shook his head. The fierce jungle where his dad had died turned back into the wall he was staring at, and the voice of his own childish scream turned into Kairo's annoying voice. "Penny for your thoughts...or better yet give them to me free. That's all they're worth." That maddening laugh. Safari Joe ignored it and moved on. 

He had his own prey to bag. 

Part 10 

Part 12 

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	12. Chapter 12

12 

At the resort planet, Usiko and Ze'ev were actually starting to wish that Safari Joe would return. During the two and a half weeks that he was gone, both of the captives noticed things change. They were fed a large meal only once a day, and were not let out to run around. They were not given a blanket or a pillow at night anymore, and Usiko noticed that some of the other species, the sentient ones that probably would not rip each others' throats out being together, were stuck two to a cage. He wondered on this, and wondered. Kamata wouldn't do that, she liked animals, and the feral captives were treated the same way. 

One day at breakfast, or what would have been breakfast if Safari Joe had been there taking care of things, Usiko and Ze'ev were talking. "Where were you?" the child asked suddenly. 

Usiko looked at his young companion. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean when that bald man got you." 

"Ohhhh." Usiko's expression darkened. "I was on a jungle type...planet, I guess." He had told the child of Thundera, and how they had all had to escape in suspension pods. "My pod landed there, and the homing beacon was broken. That...thing...was hunting there and caught me." He shook his head, then looked at the boy. "What about you? Where did he catch you?" 

Ze'ev scowled. "He didn't. M-my master sold me to him for the skin, but he decided not to skin me." Ze'ev's lips trembled a little. He had often been threatened with being sold to the tanner, but this time it was not a punishment; the Mutant simply got a better price from selling him than was worth keeping him. 

Usiko frowned also, but then put an arm around the boy. Waiting until he looked up, the Thunderian said to him. "I'm glad he decided to keep ya, little one." 

Ze'ev smiled a little bit. "Yeah...me too." 

After a few minutes of companionable silence, the both of them saw a shuttle land in front of the place. Kamata stepped out. Well that explained things; Kamata had not been there, and the third in command would have been put in charge. The Third in Command was a human called Kraig Lechlan, and he was a sleaze. No one liked him, no one. Even half the staff couldn't stand his arrogant attitude and selfish disposition. The captives more than couldn't stand him, they hated his guts. There was hardly a sentient there that would not want to see him dead. He was cruel. He liked to smack people around. He liked to poke the feral exhibits with a sharp pole, and gloat over the fact that he had the power over them, and that they could not get to him through the cages. 

Usiko growled. Ze'ev had not heard this of course, but he had seen the expression on Usiko's face and frowned himself. "What's wrong, Usiko?" he asked in his overloud voice. 

Usiko sighed and said, "Kraig was in charge." 

Ze'ev could not quite see the movement of his lips and asked, "What?" 

Usiko turned to face him and repeated it, and pointed to Kamata. She was walking in the front, right where Ze'ev and Usiko's cages stood. 

"Hey!" came the shout form one of the humans. They had been quiet ever since Cantel had been dragged away to his death, but one spoke now, the one who had complimented Cantel on his spitting abilities. "Hey, Kamata! Tell that miserable puke bag of a human to start feeding us!" 

Kamata frowned a little, but hid the expression from the human. Usiko and Ze'ev both saw it fine, however, though the feline had to give his cagemate a play by play on the conversation. "Quiet now," Kamata said to him. "If you're not being fed enough it will be fixed, now pipe down." She spoke in that patient but firm way she did to the furred beings, even to other humans! Usiko was amazed at that woman. 

Kamata was mad. Usiko could see it. 

For about twenty minutes, nothing happened. Usiko sighed and went over to the treadmill and ran a little bit. He was going crazy in that damnable cell all the time. But then something interesting happened. There was a sound like something being thrown against a wall, and an angry female voice. Usiko jumped off the treadmill and told a passing guest to shut up so he could listen. The irritated visitor spewed a few choice words them moved on. 

Not far from Usiko's cage, in the restricted area of the resort, Kamata had found the sleaze. "What the hell is wrong with you? I leave for two weeks and you screw up!" 

Kraig turned with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing back?" he demanded. "You weren't supposed to be back for another three days!" 

She growled a human growl. "My uncle's estate was settled sooner than I expected. What is it to you? So you could cover up all your little greedy schemes? I was told you aren't feeding the exhibits enough. I checked the logs, and they were right! You have not been keeping them on the training or exercise schedules either, and some of the staff said that you sent them home early. I am sick of your greed. Anything to save a buck!" 

Kraig growled himself. 

"What's going on?" Ze'ev said loudly. 

Usiko winced, but the arguing humans didn't even notice. "Shhhh..." he said, and told the child what was going on, only moving his lips. Ze'ev frowned, nodded, and remained quiet. 

"Oh get off my ass, Kamata. I know you're this save-the-animals tree-hugger, but I am sick of you! I saved a lot of money, and yeah I made a lot in return. They're fed enough to be alive, and those other luxuries they don't need. So don't even start with me." 

Kamata narrowed her eyes. "Where's Joe?" 

Kraig shrugged. "How should I know? He never came back. I'm in charge now." 

A thin thread of worry made its way through her mind. Then she lost it. "_You_ are in charge? I don't think so, you sleazy greedbag! I outrank you, I am in charge until we find him." She shoved the man. "So back off. You're cruising for unemployment here!" 

That was it for Kraig. No one shoved him around! Not some pathetic girl! He shoved her back. "I'm in charge, woman. Unless you think you can take it from me." 

Kamata's jaw dropped. He had never been this blatant before, he must think Safari Joe was gone for good. "Why you no good, slimy..." She narrowed her eyes, and without warning, tackled him. 

Ze'ev and Usiko watched this, fascinated, and actually hoping that Kamata kicked him into the next millennium. And at first, that seemed to be happening. 

Kamata _was_ winning, until Kraig spotted a discarded bar from a disassembled cage, and swung it at her. 

The woman was caught off guard, and took the blow full in the head. She dropped. Kraig laughed and kicked her. "Pathetic." He shook his head. "I guess I better get her taken care of. I don't want a murder to deal with." He shrugged and called someone over the radio. Two workers, a woman and a man, came shortly, and knelt by her. Soon after that, a shuttle was flying her out. 

Usiko sighed and sat on the bunk. "Great. With that sleazebag in charge, who knows what'll happen?" Ze'ev climbed up next to him and leaned against his soft fur. The child took comfort in his older friend. He had found someone at last he thought he could trust. His whole life he had had nobody, but wished constantly that he did. Now it had come true...he hoped it had come true...but still there was that thread of doubt. Like if he believed it, he would only be disappointed. But it was a thin thread indeed. A very thin thread. 

Usiko smiled and put an arm around him. He was feeling a simple love for the Mutant cub, as he often did, and he hoped more than ever that he could get them both out of there and show the child that the world wasn't all bad. That there were good people in it. But first, he had to get past Kraig. 

*** 

On the remote desert moon, Safari Joe was having his own problems. Though most of the journey through the place was uneventful, he_ had_ had to dodge a few laser blasts from inside guns, and had stayed away from those places. There were more in some areas than others, but he wasn't there to get shot, he was there to find a way out. 

He had been wandering for hours, almost a day total, resting five times, and eating twice. Kairo had curiously left the kitchen open. Joe only took the food that had not yet been opened, packaged food. He didn't trust Kairo not to poison him. He kept his hunting knife out all the time, and looked in all directions, as if he were stalking prey. But he _wasn't_ stalking prey. Safari Joe _was_ the prey, and he had no experience with it. He hated the trapped, helpless feeling, and the urge to always look over his shoulder. He was on edge. He did not sleep. Kairo was playing with him, he knew, but when would he spring the trap? When would he finally close his jaws and kill him? He sighed and went on. He had to find some kind of control panel, maybe a basement. He had the idea before, now he redoubled his efforts to find it. 

Kairo Zarack had watched the whole thing. He had a hidden storeroom of food, and one of the chairs made quite a comfortable bed. He'd slept a while, trusting his sensors to alert him to anything interesting. It didn't. 

When he got up, he looked to the monitors one again and laughed. He doubted very much that Gregor had gotten any sleep himself, he looked as nervous and jumpy as a cat at the dog pound. He had dark circles under his eyes, and a slightly crazed look in them, like someone who is paranoid. He probably was. Kairo chuckled as he watched. Joe really had no reason to be paranoid; he only got shot at when he tried to go somewhere he shouldn't; one was the secondary control center for the large shipping compound, in case this one shut down or something else happened, and the other was his smaller room where he kept all of his hunting weapons. And the food had not been touched by him in any way. He kept his amused, silent vigil. 

Safari Joe wandered more, searching for a trapdoor. He found none, but he did find a route he had not traveled before, that was in the middle of the large building, and led to the other half. Did he not have any employees to take care of this stuff? If he did, they were all out for the day. Hell, the week. 

Kairo sat up, and his unpleasant, unkind smile spread over his face. Now he was going in the right direction. It had been a surprise seeing Joe Gregor land on that desolate, forgotten moon, but he had been pleased. Of course he'd had to set up for his visit, now hadn't he? 

There was little here. There was a large room with three huge roll-up doors that led outside, all locked down tight, and with no visible way to get them to be otherwise. Joe looked for a while, then gave up. His fatigue was getting to him. 

Another was a bathroom, which Safari Joe realized he needed to use, and he did, wondering if Kairo was watching _that_ too. 

He was. 

Safari Joe thought more and more about his not so friendly host. He had found out a lot about him. He'd been a hunter, and got into shipping and taxidermy, and expanded more on this than the actual hunting when he got older. Joe knew the man. He _knew_ that he knew him, but there was not a picture in sight to jog his memory. Not one. He guessed there must have been some, but by this point he knew that he only saw what that bastard Kairo wanted him to see. 

He knew that Kairo was the man's real name, though he'd changed it early in his teens. Kind of like him, Joe thought with a mirthless laugh. He had changed it back to Kairo later, he guessed because it was more responsible and respectable. He had been known for his hunting in his youth, and his earlier years, but as he got older, his reputation was more as a dealer in illegal goods, like endangered species, alive and dead, and other things of that type. Still, the files he had seen did not say what his name had been, or what year it was any more than it had a picture. Still he knew that he must have known him when Kairo was a young man...it is then that the history was most obscured. 

He walked on. 

Here was a storeroom, locked, but with a window in which he saw there was nothing there but boxes of furs; a janitorial closet, a linen closet, two more bedrooms, and a metal door with a blocked off window. With a weary sigh, the hunter turned the knob. 

The door opened easily into a darkened room that smelled like it was another storeroom. He was right. As he turned on the light, he looked around and saw various creatures that had been stuffed by the ex-hunter and put in the room. Each had a tag as to whom it was to be shipped to, like many of the other rooms in the place. Joe looked around. 

A small herd of trentsins, arranged in a realistic looking scene that mirrored the bleak purplish landscape of the moon, a large tiger, bigger than most species, and endangered throughout the universe, looking fierce as it growled its last, a host of birds and raccoons, and other small animals. Nothing much. Then he looked up. 

Heads. The customary moose with three antlers. A deer-like creature with green fur and little yellow eyes, and two Thunderian heads even! Or at least humanoid felines that could have been Thunderians or some other similar race. One wall was covered in pelts. He was ready to walk out of the room, and then he turned around. The third wall had more skins on it, but Safari Joe did not see them. Safari Joe's eye saw only the fourth wall, containing one last head. This head had no tag that indicated a future buyer, and was fixed, as most of the others, in a last desperate snarl as its owner fought against hope to save itself and its young. 

The head was human. It was topped by a bright thatch of unruly, carrot red hair. The eyes, which had also been preserved in their natural state had once been a startling green, and now were dulled to look flat and dead. It had been of a man in his early thirties, with rugged, tanned skin, made more so by the harsh preservation process. 

Joe Gregor stared in shock. He did not move for a full five minutes, caught in a frighteningly real trance of deja-vu, feeling the severe disorientation of now knowing if you were here or in the past, years before, on a hot jungle world; of looking into the eyes of a man that should be dead. Then the paralysis broke as his mind came back into focus, and he knew exactly where he was, what had happened, and who he was dealing with. Safari Joe had been twelve when he had first met Kairo Zarack, and had seen him only once before, when his young, devastated eyes had traced every curve of his face, vowing to remember it, etching every feature in his memory. 

Safari Joe dropped his hunting knife, without ever realizing he had done it, only aware of the man's face he was staring at. As he gazed at that face, a face of a man that had smiled proudly when his son had caught his first Jondron at the age of ten, who'd picked him up from the mud when he was four, on his first visit to the jungle planet and laughed gently when he'd cried, and wiped away the tears, and told him he was a tough little guy. A face that was usually kind and understanding, and honorable. 

As he gazed at the dead, dull face of his father, a cry worked its way up his throat. Beads of sweat made their way down his face. His shaking hands balled into fists, over and over, so tight they could have shattered heavy glass. A choked, hurt sound came from between his clenched teeth, and he closed his eyes tight. He threw his head back and let out a scream, a wild, enraged howl of grief, and hurt, and fury as he screamed to the sky beyond the stone and steel of Kairo's compound. 

Part 11 

Part 13 

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	13. Chapter 13

13 

"Hey, watch it!" Usiko exclaimed, then: "Ow!!" Usiko opened his sleep-crusted eyes and wiped them clear, glaring blearily at the person that had waken him up. It had been done in the form of a hard wooden billy club type thing poked roughly at him through the bars. He growled when Ze'ev yelped in surprise at getting the same treatment. "What's the big idea?" 

"Shut up, fleabag," the human said to him. Kraig Lechlan. He should have known. It was the day after they had seen the fight between him and Kamata. The pair had not known anything more about her after she was taken to the hospital. "It's almost opening time, people don't want to see a sleeping exhibit. So get up!" 

Usiko growled at him. Even the hunter had let them sleep as long as they wanted to. "What do you care? That blasted hunter let us sleep and his attendance was just fine. So bug off." Usiko frowned and lay back down as if to go back to sleep, something he fully intended to do. 

"You miserable Thunderian. I'm sick of your mouth!" Kraig struck Usiko in the side with the wooden baton, only hard enough to cause some pain. He didn't want to bother with a medical bill. He'd kill him for his skin before he did that. 

While Ze'ev looked on fearfully, Usiko yelled in pained surprise and sat up fully. Kraig had made a mistake. He had gotten too close to the cage. Usiko reached through the bars and grabbed his lapel. "You miserable, sadistic bastard!" he snarled, glad Ze'ev could not hear the foul steam of curses he was about to hurl. "You're nothing but a cowardly, bullying, asinine..." He cursed the surprised handler for a few minutes, until the human finally squirmed to get away. Usiko lost his grip on him, but quickly regained it on his arm, sinking his claws into the flesh. Kraig let out a scream of anger and pain. "All of us, even the feral exhibits, are sick of your bullying, you freak! How do you like it!? Huh?" He gave the man a shake. 

Kraig wasn't a weakling, but he was human. Even a small Thunderian is often bigger than an average human, as they did evolve from a larger species, and the adrenaline was flowing. Kraig's panicked attempts to free himself failed, and he finally blurted a desperate call into his radio. Usiko was too late in seeing and couldn't stop him. He did take the radio and dash it to pieces on the other side of the cage. "Yeah that's right, call your buddies, you coward! Can't fight your own fights?" 

Kraig hated animals. The only reason he put up with them was because the pay was good, and he hated the intelligent ones They were bigger, stronger, and often smarter than he was, and to someone that considered them merely animals, that was a severe blow to his pride. 

Kraig had no time to respond before three of the workers busted into Usiko's cage and grabbed his arms. The third tossed Ze'ev casually to the other side of the cage, where he only curled up and watched. He was used to that kind of treatment, though he was scared and worried for his new friend. 

"Let go of me, you apes!" Usiko growled. He fought, but even a Thunderian, an average Thunderian, can't fight off three humans. They pinned him painfully against the bars of the cage where he muttered a few choice Thunderian epithets. 

Kraig was panting from the encounter. He was not a physically fit man, the victory over Kamata had been bad luck and bad timing , and even then he'd had to use a weapon. He considered her out for the count, and he did not expect to see Safari Joe again, either. So he was in charge. Narrowing his eyes at the growling Thunderian, he said in a low, barely restrained voice, "You just made a mistake, wretch. No one does that to me and gets away with it. I don't dote on you Thunderians like that bald excuse for a hunter." He turned his eyes to the three workers in the cage, one of whom was keeping an eye on the little Mutant cub. "Take him to the holding cage. I'll get the tanner in here." 

"Tanner?! Wait a minute!" Usiko protested, but Kraig was leaving.. The two handlers that had a hold of him dragged him, fighting, out of the cage, whole Ze'ev asked in his timid, usually frightened voice where they were taking him. 

After a minute, Kraig turned around. "You might as well take that little rat of a scavenger too," he said. "Miserable little fleabag's not worth keeping." 

"Wait!!" Usiko yelled, fighting harder. The handlers had a harder time restraining him. "Wait no, leave him alone, he's just a child!" As the third handler nodded and grasped the child carefully by the scruff of his neck so he didn't get bitten, and other two finally used the stunner on Usiko. They hadn't wanted to before, because their job training taught them not to unless it was necessary. Though it usually didn't happen, there was a chance of damaging the exhibits. Usiko slumped, unconscious. 

Ze'ev went along meekly, keeping his eye on his feline friend. 

Both were thrown into a small cage, one too small to stand in, and Ze'ev worriedly went over to Usiko and tried to wake him up. After not succeeding, he sniffed, wiped his eyes, and lay down to rest his head against Usiko's chest. He curled up and waited. 

** 

Kairo Zarack's cruel, amused laughter sounded in his office as he watched the hunter. He knew who he was up against now, didn't he? This was too good. Just like his father, too...well maybe not just like him, but close enough. Kairo no longer was interested in the reputation of being the best hunter in the galaxy, as his hunting days were for the most part behind him. He still did it for recreation, but his main income was shipping. He had not hunted in almost two years. Well today he would again. Perhaps he was not interested in his reputation, at least not too much, but in this case, it was almost a duty. He had left the child alive on that jungle moon only because he posed no challenge to the young hunter who had killed the boy's father, and now he would be a challenge. He intended to put Safari Joe Gregor's head on the wall, right next to his father's. It usually hung in his office, wherever that might have been at the time, but he had not wanted Joe to see it so soon, and had relegated it to the storage room in the hopes that he would stumble on it. And he did. 

As Safari Joe still stared in helpless, childish rage as his father's dead eyes, Kairo Zarack, smirked. He had been known in his youth as Orion Abziehen, Orion meaning hunter, and Abziehen meaning pelt in one of the old human languages. Hunter of pelts. Zarack chuckled. It almost sounded silly to him now, as he donned his hunting gear, but then it was quite a name in hunting circles, even before he took down Joe's father. 

His old hunting outfit still fit him perfectly. He had kept in shape as he approached middle age, and his reflexes, though slower than they ha been for lack of practice, were still sharp enough. He took a rifle from the wall. Now the real hunt began. 

** 

Finally. Finally, after almost fifteen minutes, Joe was able to turn his head and squeeze his eyes shut. He felt the sting of tears he had not felt in over twenty years, and was ashamed of them. Even now he could not bear to cry in front of his father. 

After several minutes of grief, Safari Joe felt a slow, intense burn of fury and rage. He knew what he had changed his name to now. Oh, yes he did. 

The hunter left the room and slammed the door behind him. He couldn't bear to be in that room anymore, he had to concentrate. He would come back later. He would take his father's head form the wall. He would bury it in the ground of the jungle moon where he had been killed, and where Joe had spent many happy times there with his father. His body was buried on his home world, but he couldn't go into the cemetery and just dig him up to put the head there. Besides, he thought with a great sadness, but also a small tug of affection, his father would have liked being in two places at once. He once told Joe when he was around eight that if he ever died, he wanted to be chopped up and buried across the galaxy. Joe had thought he was kidding at the time, and maybe he was. But then again it was the kind of thing his father would have wanted. 

Joe shook his head hard and thought. He tried to dash away the rage, tried to bury himself in a cold box of rational thought. He'd die otherwise. 

He thought about the whole compound. He'd been throughout the whole building, there had to be hunting weapons somewhere. There had only been the one rifle in Kairo's office, and most hunters had at least three different weapons, and the serious ones had more. But he'd _been_ everywhere! 

Wait...not _every_where. He thought back to the lasers he'd had to dodge. That must be it! There was something there that Kairo didn't want him to see. 

Joe ran. 

He ran to a room he had seen before, the loading bay with the large, roll up doors. There was a large assortment of junk, and some building materials. He knew exactly where the lasers were, and he knew how he could destroy them, or at least knock them aside or damage them so they couldn't fire. He stooped and picked up a long, heavy metal rod and grinned humorlessly. He was about to even the odds. "I'm coming for you, you bastard," he muttered. 

** 

Kairo could have waited. He could have stayed in his safe office and watched, and ambushed the hunter when he was least expecting it, or even waited until he came to the office, as he would surely have done eventually, but what was the challenge in that? That wasn't sporting, now was it? 

Kairo prowled the halls. No, this was not a steamy jungle, or the cold mountains, or the scorching desert, but it was a hunting ground just the same. He was the hunter, and that snotbag Joe was his prey. He clicked the safety off his rifle and continued. 

** 

Laser! Zap! "Auuugh!" Retreat! Safari Joe had estimated wrong the location of one laser. He had bashed most of the others in with the metal rod without more than a few singes on the shirt or even the skin. They were easily ignored. But this one had nailed him a good one, right in the arm. With a hiss of pain, Joe looked down to the deeply seared flesh and clenched his teeth. "Blast it!" He knew where the infernal bastardly thing was now! He raised the bar, darted in, and smashed it. 

The other three or so he had no problems with, but his arm was throbbing. Great, he thought. Just perfect. 

There was an electronic lock on the door. He did not know how to pick a lock. So he simply smashed it. A loud electronic shriek resounded throughout the place; an alarm. He had guessed there would be one, but he didn't care. Ahhh, but he had been right. This was the armory. He grinned as he chose a weapon from the wall. Kairo's lock had not been all that strong, as he had many security features, but they didn't work too well in this case. Kairo _knew_there was an intruder in the place, and he did not have the time to go and tell the computer that. Both hunters would have to put up with it until the automatic shutoff stopped it in a half hour. 

Now Safari Joe was ready. He had a rifle almost exactly like the all purpose one he usually used, and had loaded it with energy charges and a few rocket cuffs. He started off.   
*   
** 

Kairo jumped at the siren and growled. That particular one meant Joe had gotten into the armory. He would have to be more careful now. He hadn't thought the miserable bald-headed brat could get in there. He had underestimated him. It had been too long since he had hunted. 

** 

For forty-five minutes they skulked in the passageways of the large compound, looking for each other. Joe passed the open office after the siren had stopped. He could have left via the exit Kairo had in there, but he didn't want to. He wanted to hunt him down and make him pay for killing his father in cold blood, and keeping his head as a trophy. His father, who had done nothing to hurt the bastard. His only crime was taking his son on a hunting trip. 

Joe heard a noise. His ears still rang from the siren, but he heard it in the darkened halls. He quickly went over strengths and weaknesses. Joe was injured, that would be bad. they were probably equally armed, but Kairo had not hunted in a long time. His instincts, though always there, would be slower and out of practice. Joe's were honed to a sharp, keen edge. That would be his greatest advantage. That and the adrenaline that coursed throughout his body. 

Even as this ran through his mind, he was spinning around. A footfall. Perfectly silent, Joe stepped around the corner, keeping low. Aha! He narrowed his eyes and crouched low. Kairo's back was turned. Big mistake, you miserable blighter, he thought, and fired at the older man. 

But Joe had also underestimated Kairo. His reflexes were slow, but his instincts were sharp. He sensed the action and the presence, and spun. He dived in time to avoid the shot, and rolled away, firing back as he did. While Joe's style was a ruthless, calculated hunt, with thought and research, Kairo's style had always been a more roguish, space pirate type of hunting. He liked the action, rarely researched. He lived on the thrill of the unknown. That also had helped him in avoiding this shot. 

Now that they knew they were within each other's range, both ran to regroup. Now all senses were on alert. Joe pressed up against the wall around the corner, listening desperately for a sign of attack, or a sign of retreat. He heard none. Kairo had taken off his shoes and was sneaking up on his other side. 

For a long time this went on, neither gaining ground. Finally Kairo caught the exhausted Joe unprepared. He nailed him in the arm, his injured arm, when he was looking in a room for his adversary. Joe had been unwise in turning hi back to the corridors. 

With a howl of pain, Joe dropped the rifle, and under fire, ran. He ran for the armory. 

Anticipating this move, Kairo headed that way also, taking a different route. 

Part 12 

Part 14 

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	14. Chapter 14

14 

"What in the hell is that supposed to be?" asked a tawny-colored lion, looking at the viewscreen. 

His companion, who was at the controls of the large shuttle looked and laughed a little bit. "Beats me. I think it's trying to be a moon, but it didn't grow big enough." Both laughed a little. 

"Is there even life there?" 

The tiger/serval mix flipped a switch and watched the data stream across the screen. "Yeah, there's a lot of life, actually. The records say it's nasty life too. Poisonous, all of it. Hey, it's supposed to be uninhabited." 

"So?" 

"Well there's a structure down there. Built by a sentient species." 

"Really?" The lion leaned over to take a look. He and his companion were Thunderians. They and a small band of their kind had all found each other in their travels, and were looking for others of their kind. They had all thought that all of their people had been lost, but now they had hope. It was a thin hope, as there were only about twenty of them, but they hoped to someday rebuild their race. Maybe their numbers were small, but they'd heard rumors that Thundera had reformed... 

The lion shrugged. "Let's take a look. You never know." 

The tiger/serval nodded and readjusted the course for the little moon, and brought up all known records about the place. They would be there in an hour give or take a few minutes. 

** 

It was a few hours before Usiko awoke and sat up groggily. Ze'ev woke with a start where he had fallen asleep against the cat, then threw his arms around him. "I thought you wouldn't wake up," he sobbed. 

Still a little disoriented, Usiko hugged him back. "Hey, it takes more than a stunner sick to get rid of me." 

Little was said after that. Both of them knew what would happen, and Usiko was going over and over in his mind ways to escape. But none ever had. 

Several more hours passed before they came for the pair. They took them both out, three on Usiko this time. He knew better than to fight at the moment. 

They were brought to the grooming center and brought over to the tub. "You gonna cooperate?" Ze'ev was asked after the door was locked, and all of them were in there by themselves. 

Ze'ev looked at Usiko, and he nodded to him. He did not want the boy getting hurt. The child bit his lip and nodded also. All the while, Usiko's eyes darted around, looking for something he could...yes! There was a stunner lying on the counter. 

While the hyena cub climbed meekly into the bath and waited while the water was set, Usiko also waited. He waited until he had an opportunity. 

The groomer set about washing the child down. He had several soaps and shampoos to use on him to get the coat in as good a condition as he could before he was skinned. 

Usiko saw his chance! One of those holding him had let go, and the other had lost his grip. The feline lunged, throwing off the hands that held him, and dove for the counter. 

"Hey!" one of the workers exclaimed, and dove after him. 

Usiko got a hold of the stunner and spun around, striking the goon with it. Nothing happened! "What the?" 

Then he got jumped on. The two workers slammed him against the wall and pinned him there, prying the stick from his hand. "Nice try, you miserable worthless wretch," one growled. "But it's not charged." 

Usiko sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. He should have known. 

Ze'ev was finally done with his bath, and Usiko was dragged to the basin and secured in it. 

** 

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Kairo called out in a little singsong voice. He grinned. This was the best hunt he'd had in a long time. He had to give it to Joe, he was the most challenging prey he'd encountered. He was at the armory, and had heard Safari Joe going that same way...but his quarry was playing it safe. Kairo had been able to tell he'd gotten nailed by the lasers, as he had seen the burn mark and how he held that arm. He also knew he'd hit Joe a solid blow on that same arm. Joe was also exhausted and confused, and yet Kairo had not bagged him. He had to admire his determination. 

Safari Joe was watching him. He was running scared, but he also was not stupid. He'd lost the other weapon, and would have been killed had he stopped to find it, and so he came here. Unfortunately that bastard Kairo had anticipated this move and found a quicker route. He knew the compound like the back of his hand, maybe better. Joe only knew its basic layout. "Bastard," he muttered quietly. He had to get him away from that door. 

Wait a minute. Kairo's back was to an open corridor, what if Joe attacked? He wouldn't be expecting an attack from behind, not with Joe unarmed and injured. But he had enough adrenaline pumping through his body to lend him the strength of all his colleagues put together, and all he had to do was picture his father's head, hung like that of some animal, preserved in its eternal snarl, and he had quite enough strength to subdue the skinny older man. He searched his pockets and found a small cartridge. He took his kerchief from his neck and wrapped the cartridge in it, and slid it. 

He grinned when it went exactly where he wanted it to go, and slid under a shelf just beyond the open door of the armory. Smiling upon seeing that Kairo had heard it, and was looking that way, he quietly backed away and doubled back. 

It wasn't possible, Kairo thought. He couldn't be in that damned armory. But then again, Joe had been pretty fast. He had not seen Joe on the other side, skulking around the corner; he'd been too intent on the door of the armory, and was now more so. He had not seen the swift move in the darkened corridor. He had a choice here: he could either go in after him in an all out charge, or wait for him to come out. In his youth he would not have stopped to think, he would have gone in after him, but then he had the thought that Joe's more calculated style had gotten him this far...perhaps he would do the same. He settled back down in his crouch and waited. 

"Now what way could he have gone?" Joe mused almost silently to himself. He forced his confused, angry mind to focus and remember where he'd seen Kairo disappear off to when they both bolted, and as he remembered, he spied a small corridor, hidden unless you were right on it. "Ohhh, got ya now, you miserable, cowardly blighter," he said as he headed that way. His injured arm was cradled in his other. It hurt like hell, and he could not move it without causing a loot of pain...but he would need it to fight. He would have to use it to disarm his adversary, so for now he cradled it. 

Once Kairo was in sight at the end of the corridor, Joe inched along quietly, never making a sound, his eyes fixed on the back of Kairo Zarack's ugly, puke green shirt. Any second, the older hunter's instincts could alert him to the danger, but Kairo hadn't hunted in a while, and he was intent on the armory. Any second, or so _he_ thought., Safari Joe could come out of there, guns blazing. 

Joe's face split into a humorless, grim smile. Big mistake, you bastard, he thought, as he neared. 

Kairo did finally sense him. His concentrations was broken by a sense of someone's eyes boring into his back, and the almost shadow-feeling of something sneaking up on him in the dark. 

He spun around. Joe leapt! Kairo had only a few seconds to see the startling vision of an angry man leaping at him, snarling almost like the creatures he hunted, before he was knocked hard to the ground, and his weapon grabbed. "The HELL!" 

"Bastard!" Joe screamed. With one mighty yank than sent a bolt of pain lancing through his arm, he tore the weapon from Kairo's hand and threw it to the side. He had not meant to do this, he _had_ planned on using it against the older man, but adrenaline had its disadvantages, too. It made one want to pummel something with his bare hands, to feel the satisfying crunch of bone, to strike that hateful face with its arrogant grin and maddening glint in the eyes. "Bastard!" he repeated as he struck Kairo in the face. "You killed my father!!" Joe sounded almost like the child he had been when the two hunters had last met. Tears streamed down his cheeks, almost indistinguishable from the sweat that beaded down his face and smooth head. His clothing was rumpled, and his injured arm looked as if it had been put through a bonfire. He _looked_ like a wild animal. 

Kairo was too shocked to avoid the punch entirely, and took a hard shot to the nose. He saw stars for a minute while he started to fight back, grabbing for the arms that kept rearing back to strike at him, like some demonic snake. When he could see again, he managed to grab the injured one and buck his hips, so that he was on top. It was his turn to pummel. 

Safari Joe yelled at the second bolt of pain, but this was enough to send him on an adrenaline rush unlike he'd ever experienced. He felt nothing, other than the red rage, and the childish hurt and despair. "I'll KILL YOU!" 

After that, there was no stopping him. Both men fought like madmen, but Joe was working solely on the bodily chemicals, and felt nothing. He took plenty of blows from Kairo's fists, and the man was deceptively strong and wiry, but he felt none of it. He only had the desire to hurt, to smash that face and break his body. 

"Auuughh!" Kairo howled, as Joe's fist struck him full on the nose. He reeled back. 

With a triumphant grin that looked more like a snarl of fury, Safari Joe went in for the kill. 

Kairo had been injured before; he could take pain, but a broken nose was wont to make one pause. However he saw Joe's wild charge in time to roll, causing his opponent to slide ungracefully across the floor. Kairo took his hands from his nose, which was gushing blood, and his eyes widened as he saw Safari Joe go for his hunting knife. "I don't think so!" He jumped on him, grabbing for the knife. 

It was a struggle for the only remaining weapon between them, and it was Kairo, straddling Safari Joe in the classic "I'm-gonna-beat-the-shit-out-of-you" position, that got control of it. Joe may have felt as if the demons of hell were raging in him, and they probably were, but his body was weakened. He yelled and threw up his hands to ward off what would have been a killing slash to the throat, and screamed again as twin slashes opened themselves in the flesh on the backs of his wrists. He grabbed. 

He never did get a hold of the weapon but a well timed kick to the groin, and Kairo's rigid arms slackened for only a moment. One moment, as his face contorted in pain, and that was enough. 

With a cry that was one of a madman, Joe slashed forward with the knife, still in Kairo's hands, and as the older man still held onto the weapon, his expression changed to that of deep shock as a red line appeared on his own throat. He gasped for breath and clutched at his throat, relinquishing his hold. Joe grabbed the knife from him and slashed again, this time a severe cut, and threw Kairo off of him. He staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall, and watched Kairo try to stand. Instead, he fell to the floor, still trying to breathe, clutching his throat as he looked up at Joe with that expression of dumb shock still on his face. That wasn't supposed to happen, that look said. _I'm_ the hunter, and _you're_ the prey. _You_ weren't supposed to kill _me_. It was something Safari Joe had often said himself, and that look told him that Kairo was thinking the exact same thing. He almost felt sorry for him, but then he remembered the look on his younger face as he showed the child his father's head before departing. He remembered the triumphant sneer on that same face as he walked out of the courtroom, free as a bird. And Safari Joe remembered that same sneer the whole time he'd been on that damned compound. 

He growled, lurched forward, and kicked Kairo as hard as he could. He made a chuffing sound, and a spurt of blood came from his mouth. "Ha," Safari Joe snarled grimly. "Safari Joe does it again." 

The hunter limped back towards the storeroom where he'd found his father's head, and stood there for only a minute. He was bleeding heavily, and he'd been fairly badly beaten. And he was beginning to feel it. 

With his injured arm moving oddly, he dragged one of the larger taxidermy displays over to step on, and took the plaque from the wall, trembling as he did. He bit his lip as he got down and fell to his knees, gazing at his father. "Sorry, Dad," he said in a low, trembling voice. He turned the plaque over and released the bindings that held the head to the wood, and shuddered as it fell into his hands. It felt so real, but the weight was wrong, and it was hard. It felt as rigid as plastic. He closed his eyes. 

He ransacked the place only long enough to find a sack he could tie to his belt. He would need his hands to make it out of the building. He put the head inside and staggered out of the room, then found the office and fumbled with the controls until he figured out how to open it he compound's doors. Kairo was a bastard, it was a simple switch that opened the doors from there. Almost collapsing, he headed out. 

** 

"Hey..." the lion said. He was looking down at the moon they were approaching. "What the heck?" 

His companion frowned and narrowed her eyes at the screen, as if she were not seeing it clearly. "That's a human!" 

"Jeez, look at him, he looks like he got attacked! What kind of large animals are on this moon?" 

She shrugged. "None that are listed, but uh-oh. Look." She pointed. Having smelled the blood, a pack of the Ratwolves was headed for the injured man. Joe had not put on his hunting armor again, if they caught him this time, he would be dead. His eyes widened as he realized this, and staggered forward, trying to outrun them, but he couldn't. He was simply too drained. 

"Damn! Take us down, quick!" 

The lion nodded and swooped down, hovering a foot off the ground as his partner swung up alongside the human. He got out, took the man's arm, and helped him inside. The door closed, just as the pack of little dogs reached him. One leapt, and hit the side of the ship. He fell back, dazed. 

Inside the ship, the injured hunter snarled, and jerked his arm from then lion's grip. 

"Hey! Take it easy!" he said angrily. "I just saved your ass out there." 

"Wait a minute," the half-breed said, staring at the human. "You know who that is?" 

The young lion did not. He was only seventeen, and had never heard of Safari Joe. 

"He's a hunter. Calls himself Safari Joe." She looked at the lion's expression; he didn't get it. "He hunts sentients. Thunderians included." 

The lion's expression darkened. "Oh yeah?" he growled. The stony, defiant glare he got from the human confirmed it. The lion growled again. "I say we dump him for those little dog things to eat." He started for Joe, who raised his arms as if to fight. But he was clearly in no condition to. He would not survive a fierce battle with a Thunderian lion. 

The tiger/serval put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "No. We're not like him. I have a ship on the scanners, must be his We'll take him there and be rid of him." 

The lion nodded, a sneer on his face. He glared at the hunter the whole way, and Joe was far too exhausted to care. 

They did just that, and pulled up alongside the ship and opened the door. Without a thanks, Joe staggered out. But before the other ship left, he got the name and number of it. _Hellcat_, number 64772894. He remembered it. 

After a rudimentary first aid job within his ship, the hunter took off. He was headed home, but there was one thing he had to do. He had to make a detour. 

*** 

Three hours later, with Joe having gotten only a little sleep, and a little food, he arrived on a small jungle planet. It was between the little moon and his resort planet, and he'd been going at top speed. He limped from the ship, the bag at his hip, and sniffed the air. He smelled blood, his own, and the harsh chemicals that had been recently used on Cody Gregor's head, but he also smelled damp grass, and animals, and the conflicting scents of a thousand different flowers. He felt the comforting heat, that always seemed to wrap around him like a blanket, and cradle him when he felt bad. He could always come here and feel at peace. Even after what happened so many years ago, he found he felt at peace. He had not come back since then, but now he knew that he could. 

Joe still knew the place like his own name, and limped to the very place his father had been slain. He knelt on the ground. 

Joe took his hands and began to dig in the soft earth. Ants and other bugs ran around as the huge human hands disturbed their home, but Joe paid them no mind as he dug the hole. When it was big enough, he took the head from the bag. "Goodbye, Dad," he whispered. It was enough. He knew his father heard him. Everything he felt, all the love and sorrow he felt was conveyed in those two words better than any religious ceremony or funeral could have done. He covered the head with dirt. 

** 

Usiko and Ze'ev were in the dryer room, where they were being blow dried. Ze'ev was clinging to Usiko, who had his arm around him as the fan blew hot, dry air at them. Neither said anything. Usiko had tried again to escape, to get the drop on the others, but there were too many. All he'd ended up with was a bloody nose. 

Kraig Lechlan finally came into the room with his goons and grinned. "It's time, you miserable curs. Time to meet the skinner." 

As the pair backed away for a last, impossible, stand, a ragged, hoarse, but loud and angry voice boomed down the hallway. "No one's meeting the skinner today but you, Lechlan!" 

Usiko thought he'd never been so happy to hear the hunter's voice in his life. He began to hope they'd be spared. He looked down at Ze'ev and mouthed what was happening. 

"Wha--? But...but, but..." Kraig was sputtering. He had clearly not expected to see Safari Joe again. 

Joe looked like he'd been put through a ringer. Twice. But he was angry . He had been told what happened, and what Kraig planned to do with his star attractions. "Take him to the hunting quadrants," he snarled at the staff members. 

Quite happy that Joe was back, and they no longer had to take orders from a sleazebag like Lechlan, they did just that. They dragged him, kicking and screaming obscenities, out of the room. 

Joe looked to the pair, who looked warily back. "Get out of there," the hunter growled. 

Leery, Usiko led the young Mutant from the room. He still was not entirely sure the hunter would not have them killed and skinned anyway. They'd be taken back to their cell, he supposed, and when they headed toward the front, he nodded in resignation. It was night, and the resort had shut down. The process that would have prepared them to be put under the skinner's knife had taken all day, but at least they'd get to sleep, and would be fed the next morning. 

But when they got there, Joe did something that amazed the hell out of both captives. He opened the gate and stepped back. " Get out," he snarled. 

Usiko and Ze'ev both gaped at him; Usiko expected a trap. "What?" he said in disbelief. 

Safari Joe pushed the feline towards the gate roughly. "Get out before I change my mind!" A shuttle had landed, and a pale-looking, but alive Kamata was at the controls. She had just made it back from the hospital, and met Joe at the entrance. She had been the one who had told the hunter what was going on. She heard from the staff members what was happening. 

Usiko frowned for a moment, but he finally pulled Ze'ev out the gate. If the hunter was going to let them go, he would not argue. 

In a low tone, Joe said to them, "You're being taken to Zenton 5. It's a spaceport. Use the radio to call the _Hellcat_, number 64772894." He thrust a piece of paper with the name and number written on it. Then he walked away. 

"Are we free?" Ze'ev asked doubtfully. 

Usiko nodded blankly. "Yeah...we are." 

"W-will...will I have to go back to Plundaar?" the child asked, almost afraid of what the answer was. 

Usiko shook his head at the hyena cub and hugged him. "No way. You're with me, kid...if you want to be." 

Ze'ev nodded briskly. "I do!" Had it finally happened? Had he found someone he could call family? That would take care of him, and not hurt him, and love him? 

The feline looked at him for a minute. He'd lost his own family, and the child had never had one. They could both start over. They could both have a family again. Usiko finally laughed a little as they boarded the shuttle. "I think we're gonna be okay, kid," he said. A new Thundera had been reformed, and those in the _Hellcat_ would find two more to add to their little colony. The Thunderian race was starting anew, and maybe a new understanding between the Thunderians and the Mutants could start from this as well. Ze'ev kept his arms around his newfound guardian as the boarded the craft, and it took off. 

Safari Joe watched them leave, and slowly turned away. He thought again of his father. Joe was set in his ways and he could not change. Perhaps he did not want to change, but maybe he had done one thing to make his father proud. His life had been saved by those two Thunderians in the _Hellcat, _and he had repaid the debt. 

"Hey, you gonna let us go, too?" It was one of the humans, sounding hopeful. 

"Shut up, Lalton," Joe said in a tired voice, and limped for his manor. He would call the healer and have his injuries tended to. Maybe he couldn't change, but he could sleep easier, knowing that his father was put to rest, and his death avenged. He wanted his father to be proud of him one last time. Hoping he had done this, Joe Gregor lowered his eyes to the ground and limped through the dark compound, headed for home. 

Author's note:   
After I wrote this story and sent it out to a fanfiction E-Mail list that I am on, I was told that it was very similar to a well-known short story called "The Most Dangerous Game". After being told this by these two individuals, I decided that I wanted to read this story. 

I found it, and another I had been interested called "The Lottery" That one I disliked greatly, sorry to say, but Dangerus Game became one of my favorite stories. I was surprised at how closely Kairo resembed the antagonist of Dangerous Game, even having a similar last name. 

I had not read that story before writing this one, but the similarities are kind of creepy, and i had no idea I was creating a cahracter so similar. But now that I know, I;m happy with it and must thank Dangerous Game's author for writing a hell of a cool story. 

But the wrong guy won!! 

:grin: 

Part 13 

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